Red as Roses
by Count Every Lie
Summary: Len Hatsune had always lived a life for two years in the Hatsune household but with no memories of his past. He tries to regain them, but as he does, he learns of the town's dark secrets and somehow, it was connected with his past.
1. Prologue

**Red as Roses  
><strong>_**Prologue**_

The sky was dark, and the wind was cold against their skins. Whispers caressed their ears and silent screams gritted against the insides of their skulls, creating a rhythmic pounding within their heads. Tendrils of shadows crawled across the dead lawn, shifting, looming ominously as if pouncing to devour them. Their breaths were heavy as they stared, waiting, watching for the shadows to rise and grab them and pull them and shred them into unrecognizable pieces.

"Go." It was soft and raspy whisper. They glanced at each other and there they decided once and for all. A boy standing a few feet in front of them gave a small shaky nod, a movement so small that they nearly missed it.

Slowly, they walked towards the mansion standing in the middle of the field. There it stood like a giant among the trees, dark and ominous and evil and horrifying that it seized their hearts, drowning them with fear and horror suffocating them with the smell of death. The moon illuminated the old cement and wood, showing off the vines that crawled upon its walls, twisting and turning and crawling and _crawling_…

Silence screamed at them, drowning them with its sounds that they briefly wondered if they would wake and find out that everything—_the deaths the blood the bodies and oh, the horrifying deaths please make it stop—_that everything was just a dream… A nightmare.

A screech, shrill and loud and ghastly and just _oh so wrong _came from the distance that their breaths came as small gasps and their hearts just stopped all together. The screech came from the far off and it just gets louder and louder, coming at them like a scythe and a black coat and as death itself.

It was coming.

Closer and closer and…

_It's there! Right there! Oh God!_

There was a strong gust of wind and everything was flying and turning and moving so fast that they closed their eyes and held each other and screamed and cried all together.

_Please no don't please no_

And everything just stops.

Silence.

Ever so slowly, like a scene from an old movie, they opened their eyes, looking around their surrounding… searching… waiting… _knowing…_

_She's right there…_

And there they saw _HER_, standing right _THERE_… waiting… watching… laughing with glee, eyes glinting like crimson rubies, and looking everything like the _devil _that it sent cold ice running down their backs and goose bumps rising on their skin.

_SHE _watched them—amused, mocking, _laughing_.

Everything was cold and still and everything was just dying—_wilting. _They gazed at _HER_ with horrified faces, their hearts beating too fast, too painful. Their breaths were short and their lungs refused to move, just dying—_stopping_. And every breath was a knife and every beat was hammer and everything just bled and broke and _painful_.

Their mind screamed at them to _run (again and again)_, but they won't—_can't_—move. Their limbs refused to respond and fear crept and crawled and clawed at them, grasping them in a painful—_oh so painful—_grip that they can't _breathe_. The laugh surrounded them (_it was so sick and so wrong and oh so disgusting)_, cocooning them with its horrid sound that they just want it to _stop_. But _HER _laugh reverberated within their ears, pounding and shaking everything that made them who they are; and then fear was the only thing they knew, the only thing that was left of who they are.

_Run._

Then… _SHE_ stopped and grinned at them, teeth sharp and glinting like blades and there was _blood too much blood oh god (like pretty red roses)_. Slowly, _SHE _raised _HER_ arms, movements moving in a—_abnormal and unusual and just wrong so wrong so wrong please don't—_jerking motion.

And right there… _right there…_ they knew…

There was no escaping her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Prologue has been changed to fit the current plot. An over-all change to be exact.


	2. Chapter One

**Red as Roses  
><strong>_**Chapter One**_

A blond boy around his young teenage years twisted and tossed from beneath his covers, entangling his plain and thin blankets around his legs and his flailing limbs. Cold sweat covered his form, making his blond locks and his grey shirt stick to his skin. His inner turmoil reflected off from his face, his features filled with restlessness and distraught and fear. His eyes tightly shut and his lips quivered, while muttering soft words repeatedly despite asleep.

"_Found you…"_

The boy let out a sharp gasp as his body jolted into a sitting position. His eyes opened wide, revealing the lightest of green irises. His pupils were in small circular slits, but soon dilated as he realized that whatever that was troubling him was nothing but a dream (or in this case, a nightmare). His breaths were heavy, he was panting like a dog that had run a mile. He brushed his bangs to the side as he slowly started calm down, yet his heart was jumping within his chest.

He kept muttering to himself that 'the dream is not real', repeating it to himself over and over again just to reassure himself and to calm his jumping heart. Soon his breath went back to normal, but his heart was still beating fast. The blond then laid his back against plain wooden headboard as his mind wandered off to his dream.

The dream… was a very peculiar dream… He had been having them for almost a month. At first, it was just plain darkness, then he would see glimpses of hairs, a hand, and red stains. Gradually, the dream slowly becomes detailed. He would see a body, a blurry face, and more of the red stains.

Red stains that look awfully like roses.

_As red as roses…_

At first the boy ignored these dreams. He always throws it to the back of his mind, and he would soon forget about it for the rest day. However, every night, ever time he closes his eyes and lose himself in the land of dreams, the fleeting images would came back, getting detailed and detailed every time. Last night, his dream became as detailed as ever. Instead of darkness and the usual fleeting images of faces, red stains, and locks of hairs, this time, he could finally see something other than the darkness. The boy found himself in a room—a very white room—designed with what seems to be splotches of red that reminded the boy of rose petals.

There he stood alone in the middle (or so he thought). He would glance around the blinding white room, searching for the images that he would see every night. He did not know why, but he felt like he should look for it—what ever 'it' is. He turned his head from side to side, only to meet with the four faces of the plain and whiteroom. However, he noticed the walls—the walls were painted by the red petal-ike splotches. Some of them would appear larger than the other, while some will just be small plain dots of crimson.

He didn't know why he didn't notice it before but, he noticed that the floor was puddled by the same shade of red that was scattered across the wall. However the floor appears to be more of a small puddle of red, and small ripples would glide across as he moved his what appeared to be white sneakers. Apparently his clothes were the same plain white designed with the same petal like designs.

The boy jumped on his feet as he heard a small childish giggle right by his ear. He whirled his head around, only to find it empty—just the same white and red wall staring back at him. The sound frightened him. His dreams had always been silent, there were no voices. But there_…_

Again, the small childish laughter reached his ears, but this time it came from his other side. However, as he turned his head, he found his other side to be empty again.

The laughter came again—_and_ _again_. Yet he could not find where it came from. His eyes frantically searched for the source. The laughter, childish and somehow _cruel_, he wanted to find it. But where? Where?

Laughter rang right by his ears, driving him nearly closer to the edge. He felt himself backing up, as his eyes wandered around. Looking… _looking… Where?_

Soon, his back touched the wall, his body tightly pressed against it. The childish laughter continued (cruelly resounding within his head), clearly finding pleasure in his plight. It was then he realized that there was no one there, but him and the child-like voice. Still laughing and laughing… _and laughing…_

"Stop," he had mumbled. His hands went to cover his ears, an attempt to drone out the cruel laughter. "Stop it," he whispered, his voice trembling and almost begging. However, despite his vain attempts, the cruel laughter still reached his ears. "Shut up!" he shouted, pressing his hands tightly over his ears.

Suddenly, he felt something wet and sticky crawling down his shoulders and to his arms. There he saw the dark red liquid—nearly black—slowly creeping out of the ceilings. The dark liquid turned the white wall into that wet and dark crimson color. He could feel the very same liquid on him, wetting his back, and staining his white clothes into that dark color. Soon, the puddle of red started rising, slowly. _Slowly…_

The boy started to panic, the dark liquid was slowly rising that it already reached his knees, and almost halfway through his thighs. The boy peeled himself from the wall, to search for the exit—but somewhere, at a far place within his mind, he knew there was _none_. The alarms in his head started to go berserk and the puddle of red liquid kept on rising and rising. His eyes darted around as he looked, hoped, and wished for somekind of exit to appear.

Then the laughter returned—he had not noticed that the child-like voice had stopped, but it seems that it was starting again.

Nevertheless, it made him panic even more.

The liquid already reached past his waist. He struggled to walk, but he felt a clawed hand pull him back to the wall. He whirled his head to the side, and stared with wide eyes at the rotting hand that grabbed his shoulder, where he dumbly noticed was protruding from the wall. Then he felt another one grab his other shoulder, it was still rotting, but it looked it belonged to a female. Another hand wrapped itself around his torso, and another took hold of his forehead and pressed the back of his cranium against the wet and sticky wall.

Soon, rotting arms and hands wrapped themselves around him. He struggled, he flailed and tried to get away, but none of his attempts are working. The cruel laughter still rang by his ear, clearly finding sadistic pleasure in his vain attempts to escape. A cry of help escaped his lips. Calling for someone… _Someone… But who?_

Now, the liquid already reached the base of his neck—and the arms still prevented him movement. He cried for help.

_Someone… Anyone…?_

Right from across him, and clawed hand reached out. It lacked a few patches of skin and was missing a few chunks of flesh; he could also see the dark veins pumping blood. The nails were long, yellowish, and ugly. They were reaching for him, reaching for his face.

_To claw his eyes out…_

Blood. Blood ooze out from the hand—he was sure it was blood. What else would be sticky and red?

Red? _Red? _RedRedRed_RedRedRed__**RedRedRedREDREDREDRE—**_

"Len!" A loud—yet soft—voice waked the blond from his thoughts. He looked at the door that stood stationary by the side of the room, where loud rapping sounds erupted. "It's first day of school! Get your ass up and move!" the voice shouted.

The blond, or as the voice had called him, Len sighed. Feeling relieved that the voice had broken his train of thoughts—his thoughts about his peculiar dream (the dream he had been replaying in his mind over and over again). Len heaved himself off the bed, and stretched his arms and legs. His dream was now forgotten (like always), as he messed his blond hair with his hand and approached the door.

Opening it, he met his sister standing by the door way, with an angry pout on her lips. "You're alarm is on, you know," his sister said as she pointed a manicured nail towards the direction of his yellow alarm clock.

"Oh," was all Len replied before walking towards his clock to turn it off.

"Hmph!" his sister grunted, she crossed her arms and turned her body, her long teal-colored hair followed her movement, "Breakfast is ready, come down before Mikuo hogged all the food," she said before walking down the hall, and headed towards the bathroom.

Len, a blond boy who's age was fourteen. He has light green eyes, blond hair, and sickly pale skin. He was currently living at the Hatsune household, and the girl that appeared earlier was his sister, Miku Hatsune. She was two years older than him and she has an older twin brother, who she had mentioned as Mikuo. She has ridiculously long hair which was dyed teal, with matching teal eyes of her own. His brother Mikuo has the same teal-colored hair, only shorter and the same matching teal eyes.

Len had been living them for the last two years.

It was two years ago when Len woke up in his room to find himself covered with bandages and gauzes, with the Hatsune gathered around. He had asked who they were and they replied that they were his family and that he had been living with them for years. They had explained to him that he had got into an accident that caused him to lose his memories. At first, Len was skeptical about their tales, but he soon learned to trust them—after all, they had provided him food and shelter. Even if they were not his real family, where would he run off to? Surely he'll end up lurking around the streets.

Len gradually accepted the Hatsune as his family—seeing that no one seemed to be looking for him if he was ever a lost child separated from his family. The Hatsune had accepted him with open arms, and they had treated him like their son and brother—whether if it its true or not, the Hatsune is Len's family.

Len closed his room door behind him and headed down for breakfast. As he entered the kitchen, he saw his older brother Mikuo gobbling down his breakfast that consisted of eggs, leeks, and rice. Mikuo paid no attention towards his younger brother and focused on devouring his whole plate. Len, of course, did not find this offending. After all, they had been living together, and they always see each other everyday, eventually, Mikuo would talk to him sooner or later.

Len flopped down on one of the vacant kitchen chairs and served himself his own food. The blond ate his food with more manner than his messy brother, acting more refined and mature. After Mikuo had finished, he made no attempt to hide the loud burp that escaped his lips. Yet again, Len did not find this to be irritating. Mikuo had been like that for two years.

However, someone in the Hatsune family find that to be really disrespectful.

"Mikuo!" Len didn't need to turn around to know the source of the voice. It was their mother, Meiko. Without turning, Len could practically feel Meiko's heated glare directed towards the male sitting from across him. "Where are your manners?" she asked, trudging off towards them. Mikuo instantly made a sheepish look and muttered an apology. Meiko merely sighed instead, as she sat on one of the chairs.

Meiko, unlike Miku and Mikuo, she has short brown hair that framed her face, and unlike Miku's and Mikuo's eyes, she has plain and normal brown eyes with strange reddish tints. Meiko had been the only one providing for the family, since her husband already died two years ago—Len never met him (or even bothered to ask about him). She had been supporting them, and cared for them. Meiko really was a caring mother, however, there are times Len sees her drink every night until she is drunk. Len never asked Meiko—his _mother _about it and simply allowed the woman to drown her pent up sorrows with her alcohol.

After Len finished his food, he fished a piece of banana lying by the counter before heading back up the stairs. There he met up with Miku who was already fully dressed in her uniform with her ridiculous long hair tied into twin-tails. Miku flashed him a smile, and patted Len on his head like any enthusiastic older sister would do. Clearly, Miku had switched from her grumpy-state to her normal happy-go-lucky-self. One of the interesting traits of the Hatsune (as Len have noticed) was that they were extremely moody. One moment they would be angry, then a few moments later, they'll be laughing.

It was quite strange and amusing at the same time.

Len headed back to his room and took his towel. He exited and headed down the hall towards the bathroom.

Now it was time to prepare himself for the day.

* * *

><p>Len and the Hatsune twins walked down the sidewalk side-by-side. Miku walked in the middle of them while Mikuo and Len flanked both sides. Currently, they were heading towards their school—the only school in town, 'The Holy School of the Great Lilith'—The Holy School of Lilith to be short, or you can also address it as HSL. HSL was the only school in the small town of Crypton, a town located far from the urban cities. HSL was located by the north-eastern side of the small town, and the Hatsune household was just a few blocks away from it.<p>

A few passerbies greeted the Hastune siblings, while the Hatsune twins enthusiastically greeted back, sending smiles and waves everywhere. Len, however, merely pocketed his hands and sent them a small nod, or a grunt of acknowledgement. Everyone in town was nice, in fact, they were too nice that the police don't move much. There were only few cases here in Crypton. However, there would be an occoasional murder, arsony, theivings and occaisonal missing children.

Len stopped as his siblings stopped by the edge of the sidewalk, they glanced around for incoming vehicles before crossing down the street. Here in Crypton, there were only a few who own cars in this small town. Mostly, people were on their bikes and only a few in their cars. Thanks to the lack of fuel consuming vehicles, the air in Crypton was fresh and clean, unlike the stale and polluted air in the cities.

Soon, the Hatsune trio reached their school. It was huge and wide. There were four buildings, one of them was the main building and the preschool section. The biggest of the buildings was the High School section, next to it was Junior High along the Elementary section, and lastly, the building located farthest from the entrance was the College section.

Students from different grade levels, sections, and years littered the school grounds. Students gathered in their own social circle, chatting away about their summer vacation and their expectations for this school year. Len immediately shrunk, his shoulders slumping as he lowered his head.

"See you around, Len!" Miku said as she gave Len a pat on the back.

"Later, kiddo!" said Mikuo, giving the same pat on his shoulder. Len looked up at them and gave them a small smile. The twins grinned back and waved, before walking away, probably heading to their circle friends. Leaving Len all alone, standing in the middle of a sea of students. Len can't blame them, they have their own life after all. With a sigh, Len pocketed his hands and headed for the High School section—might as well look for his classroom.

Len had been alone since the pass two years. He doesn't have any friends—sure a few students would talk to him, but he can't seem to keep a permanent friend of his own. Maybe he was just not the social type? Or perhaps the students were just avoiding him? Len suspects it's the former.

Len walked down the student-littered hall, but he focused on looking for his classroom.

1-Daeva… 1-Crocell… 1-Barbas… Ah, 1-Amon, Len's section.

Len entered the room, a few of his classmates are already there, gathered in their own social group while they exchange stories about their vacation. They paid little attention towards the blond Hatsune that had just entered the room. In exchange, Len paid them no attention at all. Len then took a seat. The blond hates being near at the window (seeing that the sun always seeps through them and could be hot at times), and hates being next to the wall, however, between windows and walls, Len prefers the former. Yet, Len sat a seat away from the window. Len also hates sitting up front, since the teacher's attention is always at the people sitting there. Len also hates at the back, where the noisy students usually sit. Len decided to seat right at the middle, by the third row.

The blond then decided to watch the clouds, tilting his head, and resting jaw on his knuckles with his arm propped up on the table.

Then, an all-too-familiar giggle reached his ears. The blond whirled his head around, searching for the childish laughter. His light green eyes were wide as he searched frantically for the source of the laughter with his heart rapping within his chest. He soon calmed down when he noticed that his classmates were still busy exchanging tales—it must've been his imagination.

Suddenly, loud dragging sounds of metal against the floor made Len jump in his seat. He turned his head to see a green-haired student took a seat in front of him. The student casually dropped his bag on his desk as he sat on his chair facing Len. The blond teen immediately recognized the student as Nakajima Gumiya; a student who tried to befriend Len during Junior High despite the fact that both of them are in different sections. Apparently, he was Len's classmate this school year.

'_How fun,_' Len thought sardonically, mentally cringing.

Gumiya and his family (with a few relatives) moved here around last year. Gumiya and his older sister enrolled in HSL during the middle of the year. Surprisingly, they easily caught up with the topics. Len also learned that Gumiya was quite smart despite being idiotic and childish at times.

Last year, Gumiya had been attempting to make Len his 'friend'. Len had asked why, Gumiya merely replied:

"_Well, I noticed you don't have any friends. So…"_

Gumiya pitied him. Len was not that pathetic. It's not that he doesn't need any friends; Len just prefer to be alone. Or so he told himself.

"Oi!" Gumiya greeted, grinning widely. "So how was your summer, Hatsune?"

Len glanced at him and gave the boy a blank look, opting not to entertain the obnoxious student.

Gumiya pouted playfully, "Why are you giving me that blank look? We're friends, right?"

The blond felt his left eye-lid twitch with irritation, "Gumiya…"

"Call me Gumo. I hate Gumiya."

Len resisted the urge to grind his teeth, "Gumo… You're the one who proclaimed yourself to be my friend. I never agreed about anything—especially to being your friend," Len said bluntly.

Gumiya,—or as he requested—Gumo feigned a hurt expression, "Len? How could you? After all the years we've been through!" he cried animatedly.

"I barely know you for a year," Len replied, starting find the conversation to be stupid and soon started to lose his interest.

"Hey! At least you know my name," Gumo said proudly, pumping his chest out in what he thought to be manly.

Len stared at him blankly. '_Of course, how can I forget? You've been shouting your name at me through out Junior High_,' Len thought bitterly, he could still remember Gumo bugging him everyday during the past year. "Whatever," was what Len replied instead.

"So, about your summer… How wa—"

"Fine," Len said, cutting the energetic male in mid-sentence and gave him a look to 'fuck off', or to 'shut the fuck up'.

However, Gumo did not noticed Len's hidden messages and continued on with the conversation. "I heard your big brother got in an accident, how is he?"

"Fine."

"How 'bout your sister?"

"Fine."

"How 'bout you?"

"Fine."

"Is 'fine' all you'll reply?"

Len sighed and looked back at the clouds, "Yes."

"Oh come on! And people tells me I'm obnoxious," Gumo grumbled, shaking his head exasperatedly at Len's lack of words. The blond gave him a brief glare before turning his attetion to the clouds. Gumo was about to start another conversation, when the bell rang, announcing the start of classes. Students scampered towards their own classrooms, and rushed towards their desks. Len finally peeled his eyes from the sky, and looked at the front.

The second bell rang and students finally arrived in their own respective classrooms. A minute later, their homeroom teacher arrived. He was around his mid-twenties with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a white button-up shirt, tucked in his black dress pants, a blue tie, an overall black blazer and thin-framed glasses sat on the bridge of his nose. He gave the class a casual smile, instead of the usual scowl the older teachers would give their students. Perhaps, the teacher was new in this, or he's just friendly. Len thinks it's the latter.

"Hello class, I'm Kiyoteru Hiyama. I'm sort of new here in HSL, I hope I'll have a great time with you guys," he said, his movement clearly expresses his friendliness. "So, since I'm new, I want to know everyone here. Who you are, what are your likes and dislikes, your expectations for this year, and et cetera. Can I trust you guys to do that?"

A chorus of agreement came from the students, while Len placed a palm on his face. _Really? Too troublesome_.

"Okay," Kiyoteru nodded his head, feeling satisfied with his cooperative students, "I guess I should start first…"

However, before Kiyoteru could even start, the door burst open with blur of yellow entering the room with great speed.

"I'm sorry we're late!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **This is important! Some parts of the chapter has been fixed and changed! Some changes with dialogues and descriptions.


	3. Chapter Two

**Red as Roses  
><strong>_**Chapter Two**_

"I'm sorry we're late!" a blonde haired girl apologized, bowing deeply in front of the bewildered teacher.

"Oh…" Kiyoteru started awkwardly, staring at the student in front of him, "That's alright," Kiyoteru said, nodding curtly at the blonde girl, "It is first day of school, so I guess I could let you slip."

The blonde girl, as Len had observed, has ridiculous long hair tied into a side ponytail and her eyes were the color of dark amber—a strange color, Len noted… Her face was slightly flushed, probably from running and from embarrassment. Suddenly, a blur of wine-red crashed into the blond.

"Argh!"

The girl and the blur of red fell into a heap of limbs on the floor. "T-Teto!" the blonde exclaimed as she sat up, while smoothing out her crumpled skirt. The red blur was a petite girl who has wine-red hair tied into twin-tails, and was curled—her hair reminded Len of twin-drills that was hanging from both sides her head. The red-head, or as the blonde had called her, Teto sat up and sent the blonde an apologetic look.

"Um, girls?" Kiyoteru started once again, he was scratching the back of his head while his face showed utter surprise. "Are you okay?" he asked. Immediately, the pair stood up from the ground and bowed at the confused teacher.

"S-Sorry!" the blonde apologized once again, her and Teto's faces has a dark shade of red.

Kiyoteru blinked, "I suppose you could take your seats so that we could continue with the class… Umm… Miss?"

"Neru Akita," the blonde said, "and this is Teto Kasane."

Kiyoteru nodded his head slowly, "Ah, yes. Miss Akita and Miss Kasane, you may take your seat," he said, suddenly becoming professional. Neru and Teto simultaneously nodded their heads and took their seats, which was located at the back.

Kiyoteru cleared his throat and straightened his tie, "Ah, as I was saying, I'll begin the introduction first…"

"I am Kiyoteru Hiyama, as you may know," the brunet teacher paused and nodded at the two girls who entered late—Neru and Teto, who lowered their heads, their cheeks still has a slight pinkish tint. "Things I like? Let's see… I guess I like…" Len growled and dropped his head on his desk, droning out Kiyoteru's mindless babbling. Gumo had been snickering all the time, imitating and mocking Kiyoteru's introduction. Len breifly wondered if he deserve this rotten fate.

As Kiyoteru finished his introductions, he directed his attention to Neru, "Since Miss Akita disrupted the class, why don't you be the next to introduce yourself?" Kiyoteru requested, giving the blonde a smooth smile. Neru forced a smile of her own, before stiffly nodding her head—she doesn't really wants to be first. Oh well, might as well be done with this sooner than later.

The blonde stood from her seat and walked to the front of the class, "I am Neru Akita," she started slowly. She looked at Kiyoteru with a raised brow. The teacher smiled and urged her to go on. The girl sighed and continued, "I like… Uhh… I guess I like my cell phone… Err… What else? I like quiet places, quiet people… Yeah, something like that…" the girl ranted, staring at the ceiling with a thoughtful look on her face. "I hate… Hmm… I hate noisy people. Stupid guys… back-stabbing bitches…"

"Miss Akita," Kiyoteru interjected, appearing unefected or even thrown off guard, "Please refrain using inappropriate words," he reproved smoothly.

Len blinked, surprised of the teacher's smoothness. '_Oh, he's good,_' Len thought.

Neru mumbled an apology before continuing her introduction, also suprised of Kiyoteru's smoothness. "I expect… this year…" Neru paused, a thoughtful look on her face, "To be boring, I guess?" she said smiling cheekily at Kiyoteru. The teacher, on the other hand chuckled softly.

"Well then, I'm afraid but I must disappoint you Miss Akita," Kiyoteru joked, returning Neru's cheeky grin with his own. Neru blinked, not expecting Kiyoteru's reply. Kiyoteru chuckled once more, "You may return to your seat Miss Akita," he said, motioning to Neru's seat. The blonde nodded her head and went back to her seat.

"Thank you Miss Akita for your wonderful introduction. Now, Miss Kasane, if you would?"

Teto jerked her head up, her eyes wide. She turned her head towards Neru, her eyes clearly asking for help. Len raised a brow at Teto's actions, why does she look so scared? Neru forced a smile, yet her brows knitted together, while her hand rubbed the back of her neck. "Umm… Mister Kiyoteru… Teto _can't _talk," she said carefully, the words rolling of her tongue slowly. The class went silent, and Kiyoteru stared at Teto, his eys turning wide eyes before nodding his head slowly.

'_Can't talk, huh?' _Len thought, biting on his thumbnail. No wonder she hasn't uttered a word ever since she entered.

"Poor girl," Len heard Gumo said to him. Len turned his head to Gumo, to see the energetic guy staring at the red-head intently. "I hope no one tries to make fun of her," the green-head muttered again, dropping his head on his arms propped up on the back of his seat.

Len sighed, and rested his chin on his open palm. "That Neru girl will protect her," he said, as he stared at Gumo. Gumo stared back at him with awe, "What?"

"I never thought you could think positively like that!" Gumo said a little too loudly, which was followed by his laughter. Len frowned; did Gumo really think he was _that _pessimistic? Ergh, he should try smiling more… Then again, he rather not.

"You sir!" Kiyoteru called after recovering from the shock of having a student with a _special _condition. Gumo turned his head around and look at the brunet teacher. "Why don't you introduce yourself?" he asked the energetic green-head.

"Aha!" Gumo grinned and stood up from his seat and walked excitedly to the front of the class. He jabbed a thumb on his chest, "I am Gumiya Nakajima! But call me Gumo!" the green-head said with his loud and energy-filled voice. Then, the male shoved a hand into his pocket and produced red-goggles. He pulled back the strap, and positioned his goggles above his forehead. "Gumo Nakajima, ready for service!" he announced, grinning widely as he crossed his arms in front of his chest—sending winks at the female population as he did so. Gumo then noticed the blank look Len was giving him, Gumo turned to him and sent him a thumbs-up.

The students attention went to stare at Len—the blond placed a palm on his face, sighing heavily.

Kiyoteru laughed, clearly amused of the green-head's antics. "Well then, Mister Nakajima, could you tell us your likes and dislikes?" Kiyoteru asked, nodding his head at the boy.

"Right!" Gumo made a thoughtful expression, "Hmm… Ah! I like carrots—no, wait! I _love_ carrots!" the male exclaimed, grinning childishly. "And Len Hatsune, that sour boy over there, he's my _best friend_!" Gumo declared, as he pointed a finger at the blond. Len stared at him with wide eyes, his jaw slightly slacking. Gumo chuckled, "The things I dislike… Hmm… I don't really hate anything! About my expectations for this year? Well, I'm expecting to have more friends! And to get that sour look out of Len's face!"

Len felt blood fill his cheeks, lowering his head in embarrassment. He could hear a few amused giggles coming from his classmates… Could this get any worse?

"Well then! Thank you, Mister Nakajima…" Kiyoteru nodded at Gumo's direction. Gumo replied with a thumbs-up and walked back at his seat, sending a huge grin at Len's direction. "Okay… How 'bout Mister Nakajima's friend? Could you introduce yourself?"

Len cringed, it got worse alright… Then again, he could take this opportunity to set thing right. Very well. Len stood up, and walked towards the front of the class. The blond teen pocketed his hands, and stared off at the ceiling—he could feel all his classmates' eyes on him. Man, does he hated this.

"I am… Len Hatsune. I like… some things… I dislike… a few things… And Gumo is not my friend—he just proclaimed himself to be," Len said, his voice monotonous, yet his eyes are still focused on the ceiling. "My expectations for this year…" The blond merely shrugged his shoulders, "I just have to wait and see…"

"Ah… I see," Kiyoteru stared at his student, a peculiar look on his. "Thank you… Mister Hatsune…"

Len sighed heavily and walked back his seat, giving Gumo an icy glare as he passed him. Gumo returned it with a sheepish look. The blond flopped back down on his seat and focused his eyes on the clouds, droning out the introductions of the other students.

* * *

><p>Len sat down lazily on one of the tables in the mess hall. Freshmen filled the hall, sitting with their classmates and their friends. Only the freshmen were there; sophomores and juniors have their lunch together, while seniors have the mess hall all for themselves. (The first years have four sections; usually, each section consists of thirty students. The sophomores and juniors only have two sections, while the seniors only have a single section.)<p>

The blond Hatsune placed his tray on his table. He was sitting there all alone—not that he minded, in fact, he prefered to be alone at the moment. Len took his sandwich and raised it to his mouth when suddenly, a tray fell clattering next to him. He snapped his head to the side, his brows furrowed together in confusion and his mouth still slightly hanging open. The cause of the sudden clattering was none-other-than Gumo. The green-head grinned at the blond, then flopped down next to him.

"Shut that mouth or flies will be flying in," Gumo said casually.

Len scowled, "What are you doing here?" he demanded, glowering at the annoying green-head.

"What? Don't I have the right to sit next to my friend?" he asked back as he took a carrot stick from his plate. Len stared at him blankly, before turning his attention back to his sandwich (which was still raised right in front of his mouth). "You wouldn't mind if I sit here… Right?" Gumo asked as he took a bite out of his carrot stick.

The blond teen gave the green-head a side-way glance, and thought for the moment. '_Oh, what the hell_…' He sighed heavily and slightly shook his head.

"Great!"

"Whatever."

The two freshmen sat in (awkward) silence, slowly eating the food in their trays. Suddenly, another tray slammed against the table right across from Len. The blond looked up to see a scowling Neru with a sheepish Teto standing by her side.

"Whoa! What're you doin' here?" Gumo asked, staring at the blonde girl.

Neru grunted and sat on one of the seats with Teto following her suit—only that she done it calmer than her friend. "This is the only table where I could see recognizable faces," Neru answered, grumbling under her breath as she glared at her food. Gumo raised a brow at her, and then turned his head to Teto. The red-head smiled in return.

"Well then! I guess the more the merrier," Gumo said, grinning from ear to ear. "Right, Len?" the green-head turned his head to Len, and waited for a reply. However, the blond boy purposely ignored the statement directed at him and continued on with his meal. The green-head pouted at the lack of attention from his so-called 'friend'.

"Let me get this straight," Neru butted in as she stuffed a piece of French fries into her mouth, she took another one and pointed it at Gumo. "Are you or are you not Mister Sour's friend?" she asked, eyeing the green-head with her amber eyes.

"Mister Sour?" Gumo blurted. Len looked up and stared at Neru's eyes for the first time, his brows raised questioningly.

"Yeah, Mister Sour," Neru repeated, cocking her head towards Len's direction.

"Mister—bahahaha!" Gumo guffawed, clutching his stomach, a few tears gathering by the corner of his eyes. A few students from the other tables sent weird looks at the laughing male. "Miste—ahahaha—oh god!—Sour!—yeah—ahahahaha! Th-that fits him p-perfectly!" the green-head blurted between laughs, still clutching his stomach with a hand and his knee with his other. "Oh god!"

Len resisted the urge to pummel the male Nakajima, rip him into pieces, and throw his remains to the sea. "Shut it," he hissed as he lowered his head to hide his embarrassment beneath his blond bangs.

"S-Sorry!" Gumo apologized, however, he could not stifle a few laughs escaping his lips. "Mister Sour… Ha! So true!" Gumo said, giving Len a friendly slap on the back. The blond Hatsune growled at him, gave him a hard glare and walked off. "H-hey! Where are you going?" he asked as he stood from his chair to follow the fuming blond.

"Oi!" Gumo turned around as he heard Neru's voice. "If you didn't notice, he has just finished," Neru said, pointing a finger on Len's empty tray. Gumo pouted and his shoulders slumped, walking back to the table, where he continued eating his food. "You haven't answered my question," Neru pointed out as she sipped from her box juice.

"Oh… It's sort of one-sided," Gumo replied, sighing heavily.

Neru and Teto eyed the sullen green-head. "Why do you want to be Mister Grumpy's friend anyway?" Neru asked once again, Gumo looked up at her with a confused look on his face, "I mean, if I meet someone like him, I'll totally avoid him," Neru added, popping another French fry into her mouth. Teto eyed her bread intently, before tearing a piece out of it and popped it into her mouth, then looking back at Gumo.

"But you didn't," Gumo pointed out, biting on a carrot stick.

"There are no available tables."

"You could always seat with the other sections."

"I'd rather not."

Gumo suddenly laughed, making Neru glare at him, with her cheeks slightly pink. "Wh-what?"

"You're cute," Gumo said, reaching out to pinch the blonde's cheek. Neru slapped his hand away and growled at him. "And a hot-head," Gumo added thoughtfully. He looked at Teto who were watching them with amused eyes. "I wonder why the two of you are friends…"

"I'm so going to kill you," Neru threatened, her amber eyes darkening. "You stupid Moss-head."

"M-Moss?" Gumo repeated, staring at the blonde with wide eyes, "Oh no you didn't!"

"Oh yes I did! You air-headed moss!'

"Argh! Don't call me that!" Gumo shouted as he gripped his green locks. Neru smirked, feeling satisfied that she had hit a nerve. "I hate it! I hate it!"

"Moss-head! Moss-head! Moss-head!" Neru shouted, pulling down her lower eyelid with her tongue out in an insulting and childish way.

From the side, Teto watched her best friend and her new acquaintance with amusement—it's like Gumo had been their friend for so long. If Teto has her voice, she would be laughing right now, and teasing with her friends. A small smile graced her lips—it did not mattered if she didn't have her voice; she was just glad that Neru and Gumo are here. For her, this moment was perfect.

* * *

><p><em>Later, after lunch. At room 1-Amon<em>…

Gumo tapped his pen repeatedly on his table, while his jaw rested on his open palm. _Ah, where the hell is Len? Suddenly skipping classes… And at the first day of class too! _Gumo thought, a soft sigh escaped his lips. He can't seem to find any reason why Len would suddenly leave… Then again, Len looked irritated during lunch… Hmm, what could have irked Len like that? "Probably Neru," the green-head muttered to himself, then nodding his head, like his statement totally made sense—which did not.

Gumo instinctively turned his head to the side and stared at the blonde who was sitting at the desk next to him, which was Neru. "Yup, definitely Neru," he muttered as he kept staring on the girl with his green-eyes… Wait—Neru?

"A-ah! N-Neru! What are you doing here?" Gumo asked, surprised, "When did you got there? Aren't you sitting at the back?" he asked again, lowering his voice this time as to not attract the teacher's attention.

Neru gave the green-head a bored look, "I got here while you were still at La-La land, Moss-head," she replied, her voice sounded bored, blowing on her blonde bangs.

Gumo gritted his teeth together, while forcing a crooked smile, "I told you not to call me that!" he hissed, clearly annoyed with the nickname Neru gave him. "Mosses are disgusting! And I'm too good-looking to look like a moss!"

"Ah, you're still at La-La land after all!" Neru replied, cracking a smug grin, while her amber eyes narrowed at Gumo. The pair exchange looks, one looked smug, while the other one looked very annoyed. Then a small crumpled paper hit the green-head by the side of his head.

Gumo peeled his heated glare from Neru, and stared down at the crumpled paper on his desk. "Hm?" Gumo gave Neru one last look, before un-crumpling the paper. Neru frowned and raised a brow, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

_You two lovebirds are getting too noisy._

_~Teto_

"What?" Gumo exclaimed, his cheeks dusted with a pink blush. He looked up to look around for the red-head—who was (surprisingly) sitting at Gumo's other side. "What the—! When did you get there?" Gumo asked, his voice loud that the teacher heard him.

"Mister Nakajima!" The middle aged teacher glared at the green-head, "Is there something you like to share to the class?" he asked, his nostrils wide, and his eyes were flaring. He looked like an angry hippo.

Gumo made a sheepish look, scratching the back of his head, "Uhh, I just want to point out that—"

Before Gumo could finish his sentence, rhythmic poundings came from the door. "Hrn," The teacher gave Gumo one last glare before walking towards the door. Gumo sighed in relief, mentally thanking the person who had knocked at the door. The teacher opened the door to reveal a red-headed girl standing by the doorway, "Yes—Ah, Miss Furukawa," he said as he recognized the student.

Gumo observed the girl; she has red cherry hair, and matching red-colored eyes… _Wait, is that finger marks on her neck? _Gumo thought as he focused his eyes at the strange girl.

"Sir, is this Len Hatsune's room?" 'Miss Furukawa' asked, her cherry-like eyes stared around the room for a moment, before fixing her stare back at the teacher. Gumo—and Neru, and Teto—stared at the girl with slightly widened eyes; does this girl know something about Len?

"Ah," The teacher pulled out an attendance sheet, "This is Len's class, however he appears to be absent."

The red-head shook her head, "Ah, no. He's at the infirmary at the moment," she said. _The infirmary? _What's Len doing in the infirmary?

"Oh, really?" The teacher's brows rose, "I see, I guess I'll have to excuse him for today… Thank you for informing me, Miss Furukawa." The girl nodded before walking off. The teacher walked back in front and continued on with his lesson.

* * *

><p><em>During lunch hour. Before classes starts.<em>

Len grumbled as he walked down the hall; there's still a few minutes left before classes starts again. That Gumo kid annoys him—why can't he get the idea that Len doesn't want to be friends with him? Is he stupid or simply ignorant? Len thinks it's both. A dark scowl occupied his face, clearly irritated at the moment. He just wished that this day to end—first day of school and he's already pissed.

The blond teen walked aimlessly down the hall, passing a few empty classrooms and storage rooms. The halls were empty and Len was the only there—or so he thought. Suddenly, there was the all-too-familiar laughter reaching his ears. Len froze and he looked around, his eyes slightly widening.

"Who's there?" Len demanded, as his light-green eyes looked around for the source of the laughter. He warily continued down the hall, glancing around. The childish laughter still continued. "Show yourself!" Len shouted, yet his voice slightly shook. His heart fastened its beating, his hands started to sweat profusely, and his knees slowly started to lose its strengths.

"_Over here…"_

Len turned around and saw a blur of black and yellow ran down the hall. The blond grunted and took off towards the strange blur. When he turned down the hall, he found it to be empty; there was no shady figure in sight. The blond Hatsune took in a shaky breath as he placed a hand on his face, which was wet with sweat. He could feel a slight headache pounding at the back of his head. "Must be seeing things," he muttered. Len was about to turn away, when suddenly, the temperature around him dropped.

Len found himself frozen in place, unable to move a single limb. He felt arms wrapped around his torso, with the hands hovering over his chest. He could feel a petite body pressed against his back.

"_Let's have fun…"_

The blond whirled around, but found no one sight, just the empty hall. Len gulped a lump forming in his throat as his wide eyes glanced around. For a moment, he could've sworn someone was there_…_ He just knows someone was there_… _But where? And_…_ _Why does he suddenly feel heavy?_

Len moved a leg forward but it suddenly weakened, making him falling on the floor. His body felt weak and heavy, his eyes felt like leads, and his breaths were heavy and labored. The corner of his eyes started to darken, and black spots scattered around his vision. He tried sitting up, but his limbs won't respond. He was getting dizzier by the moment, with the painful pounding at the back of his head.

He heard giggles right above him. Len tried twisting his head to get a better view…

For a moment, he caught glimpse of crimson eyes, and inhumane slit-like pupils…

_It was frightening…_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **This chapter also contains changes! Kiyoteru is smoother and less awkward. Some changes with dialogues and descriptions.


	4. Chapter Three

**Red as Roses  
><strong>_**Chapter Three**_

He opened his light-green eyes, and he suddenly found himself standing in a middle of a stark white hallway. Fear gripped his heart and dread flipped his innards. How did he get here? Where was he anyway? What in the world was going on? Len took a wary step forward—wait, where _is _forward? He looked from between his two sides, both halls seemed to be endless. Where was the right path? Where was the exit? He wanted to get out of here… But _how?_

Len made up his mind and took the hallway by his right, walking forward without turning back. He walked and he walked, but the white hall seemed to be endless. His pace started to fasten and before he realized it, he was already running frantically. He was running and running… He just wanted to get out of here. Why was he here?

_So much white…_

Soon, his legs started feel numb and weak and exhaustion started to slow him down. It felt like weights were placed on them. His chest felt heavy and his shoulders slouched from an unseen burden. He felt like falling… Len's knees suddenly gave up and he fell with his hands in front of him to keep himself from hitting the white floor entirely. His breaths were ragged and shallow that it came as short gasps. He could feel beads of sweat sliding down the sides of his face and sudden pain erupted from the back of his head.

"Argh!" he cried out, gripping his blond locks as his nails dugged down on his scalp. A soft, childish voice rang by his ear.

"_Let's have fun…"_

"… _I feel lonely…"_

"… _Ahahaha…"_

"_Hey! Hey!"_

Len's teeth grinded together; the pain blurred his vision and his gripped on his hair tightened. Once again, he felt arms wrapped around him from behind and he could feel soft breaths blowing by his ear. "Ah, someone's been avoiding me," the person whispered from behind him—it was the very same voice that has been haunting him, "Bad boy!" the voice scolded playfully.

His heart pounded within his chest, his breath hitched with a small gasp escaping his lips. He could feel the hands slowly, ever so slowly, travelling down to his _lower parts. _He couldn't suppress the moan that escaped his lips as the hands started to get even _lower. _He started to flail and to trash around, he wanted—_needed—_to get away… But the arms held him tight, and pulled him back where he could feel a small frail body pressed against his back.

"My, what a bad _pet_! Don't you want your _master _to hold you?" the voice said, followed by a small giggle.

_W-what? P-pet? _Len's eyes widened, and he continued to flail around. "I-I—! Wh-what are you—?"

The voice sighed by his ear, sounding very disappointed, "Oh dear… After what I _did_ for you…"

_Wh-what?_

"You've been bad… very bad… So ungrateful… You tried to run away… _You need to be punished_…"

Before Len could comprehend what the voice was saying, he felt the hands slithering its way towards his neck. Gripping it tightly… _tightly…_

He gasped for air, gripping the hands clenching his throat. He tried to pry them away, but they held on tight. He can't breathe… He'll die… _He doesn't want to die…_

* * *

><p>"<em>No!"<em>

Len felt his head suddenly swung to the side, a lingering feeling of stinging by his left cheek. He hand slowly reached for his cheek, while he looked around. _The infirmary?_ He thought as he noticed the change in his surroundings, which was white—but not as stark white as the hallway in his dream… Wait, it was a dream?

"How did I…?" his voice trailed off, confusion filled his features. Suddenly, he heard coughing sounds and gasping by his side. He turned his head and saw a red head doubled over by the side of his bed, her hand held on the whites sheets to support her while her other hand massaged her throat. "I… What happened?" Len asked, his voice filled with confusion. "Wha-? Who are you?"

The red-head looked up, her face flushed and tears gathered by the corner of her eyes. "The one who brought you here," she hissed, her voice raspy. Len raised a brow at her as she struggled to stand up. "You almost strangled me to death, you know," she said bluntly, her red eyes narrowed dangerously at him.

Len stared at her, his eyes widening, "How…? Are you… Are you alright?"

"I'm fine… luckily not dead _yet_," the red head grumbled and flopped down on one of the chairs by the side of the room. "You were dreaming and muttering things in your sleep. Just thought that I should be kind and try to wake you up from your 'oh-so-terrible' dream," then a heavy sigh escaped her lips, "But guess where kindness got me into," she said, frowning. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared off at the side.

The blond stared at her guiltily. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, looking away and he glared hard on his hands. "I didn't realize…"

The red head stared at him for a moment, before scoffing, "S'alright, you weren't conscious anyway," she said, then she stood up from her seat and she smoothened down her crumpled skirt.

"What's your name?" Len asked suddenly, looking up at the red-headed girl once again.

"Miki Furukawa, a sophomore," she answered, then she turned her back and headed towards the door, but she paused. "What's your name and section?" she asked, staring down at him with her cherry-like eyes.

"Len Hatsune, my section's Amon. I'm a freshman," Len answered. Then he suddenly wondered why he had answered the strange girl straightforwardly, he barely knows her!

Miki nodded her head (somehow, her face held recognition as she heard his name), and then she turned around with her back facing the blond Hatsune. "The nurse said you should rest here for a while… You did collapse on the hall…" she said, before walking out of the room. Len stared at the door for a moment before resting back down on the bed. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he placed a hand on his forehead.

He… almost killed someone… He gingerly placed another hand on his cheek—Miki must've slapped him… If she didn't, then… Len gritted his teeth, and turned himself to face the side. _Damn it, these dreams are getting worse_, he thought as he gripped the side of his head.

'_The nurse said you should rest here for a while…'_

A cynical smirk stretched across his lips. Ha… Like he could sleep after what had happened…

Len never felt scared to close his eyes. However, this time, he was actually scared of what visions would appear if he closed his eyes.

He never felt so scared…

* * *

><p>Loud noise and playful laughter filled the mess hall, coming from both the sophomores and the juniors, filled with students ranging from between the two sections of the both levels. A line was visible from between the juniors and sophomores; the older level had taken hold of one half of the mess hall and the sophomores also took their own side. Clearly, the two levels refused to interact with each other, one refusing to join the older level and vice versa.<p>

However, a snowy-haired sophomore was having trouble in looking for a table. He would sit with his fellow sophomores—however, his classmates refused to sit with him… He has been classified as the loner in his section and in his year level simply because he has strange hair. White… It was a strange color indeed, having the color of the white snow or the silvery moon; it was all but normal. No one had bothered to get close to him, because he was different.

Who would have white hair? Sure some has green and red. But white? To these students, it was weird and strange. Something out of the ordinary…

Piko Utatane was different. Strange. A misfit.

Piko lowered his head, he felt like he supposed to be ashamed of himself—ashamed of his hair color and his strangeness all together. He slowly trudged over the empty table near the window, a small table located within the junior's side. Without much of a sound, Piko placed his tray on the table and sat down. He tried to eat his food peacefully, however he could hear mindless mumblings among the student body. Are they talking about him? His hair? Or perhaps his strangeness? Piko's head dropped low, trying hard to ignore the mumbles and the stares coming from the students.

Today was first day of school and some of the students were already talking about him… Did he really deserved this unwanted attention? Why can't the other people focus on their own problems and leave him like the loner that he was?_Why can't he just disappear?_

However no one seems to hear his wordless pleas. Even that _strange girl _that spoke with him today… _Miki Furukawa…_ A girl with cherry-red hair and matching cherry-like eyes; a girl who had talked to him today, when everyone seemed to be ignoring him. Such a strange girl indeed… Now why would a girl like her talk to a loner like him? was it because he's different? If that's the case… then… he guess sometimes being different was good too.

Piko couldn't help the smile that grew on his face.

_Clack!_

The snow-haired youth snapped his head upward to see a sheepish-looking bunch of juniors gathering around the table. A blue-haired male scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly at the white-haired sophomore. "You wouldn't mind if we sit here?" he asked politely.

It was then that Piko realized that it was Kaito Shion, a junior who was famous for the color of his hair (dark-blue, the color of the night sky). Piko also recognized the strange bunch around Kaito; the _infamous_ 'Hatsune Twins', Mikuo and Miku Hatsune; the green-haired ever-so-energetic girl, Gumi Nakajima; and the blonde daughter of the head principal, Lily Masuda. They were a very strange bunch, Piko nearly laughed as he somehow saw some connections with their hair. Blue, teal, green, and yellow (blue and yellow makes green, add more blue, you get teal… Or is it the other way around? Hmm… Piko wasn't so sure).

"N-no," Piko answered, his voice low and barely hearable. But somehow the group of juniors seemed to have heard him and they proceeded to sat down on the table. _'Why would they sit here?'_ Piko thought. Why would they sit with him when there are a lot of empty tables lying around?

"You're Piko Utatane right?" the teal-haired beauty, Miku Hatsune asked, giving the sophomore a heart-warming smile. Piko smiled weakly, feeling a slight blush crawling into his cheeks before stiffly nodding his head. Miku's smile turned into a wide grin, "I like your hair," she said. "It looks better than teal."

Piko blinked, staring at Miku with a peculiar look on his face. "Really?" he whispered, barely audible. Miku bobbed her head like an excited child.

"Hey!" Mikuo interjected, an offended yet playful look on his face. "What's wrong with teal?"

"It looks wrong on you!" Miku retorted, playfully slapping her brother on the back of his head. A fight between the twins ensued, ranging from pulling each other's cheeks, to poking each other's eyes, until they pull out each other's hair. The other juniors seemed to act as if it was normal, however, to Piko—being someone lower than their level—felt sompletely out of place.

Kaito decided to be the 'mature' one in the group and told the twins to do their 'thing' when they're home… and in bed… (which made the twins blush profusely. They decided to by wise and shut their tramps)

Piko focused on his food. He couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with these juniors around him. Hmm… Maybe he should leave…?

"Piko?" Glancing up, Piko stared back at Gumi's bright-green eyes with a questioning look on his face. "It's Piko right?" Gumi asked, which Piko replied with a nod. Gumi then grinned, "I'm Gumi!" she announced, jabbing a thumb to her chest. Piko stared at her for a moment before nodding his head once again. Gumi did not need to introduce herself; Piko already knows who she is… After all, there are only a few students here in HSL. It's quite easy to memorize one's face from a different level. "So, whatcha' doin' sitting all alone?" the energetic female asked before popping a carrot stick into her mouth.

The other juniors seemed to be interested with him as well, scooting closer to the white-haired sophomore.

"A-ah… Well…" Piko started off, feeling nervous under the gazes of the juniors.

"Do you like being alone?" Mikuo butted in, munching down on a piece of bread.

Piko turned to him, "N-not really," he mumbled.

"My little brother likes being alone," Mikuo suddenly added, however his eyes were focused on the food on his tray. "He's sort of… socially awkward…"

"Yeah," Kaito agreed, joining in to the conversation, "though I noticed Gumo's been hanging around with him…" Gumi turned her head to Kaito, her eyes filled with interest when Kaito had mentioned her brother's name.

"More like pestering him," Lily said, also joining in the conversation.

"Ehh?" Gumi glared at the blonde, "What do you mean?" she demanded, giving the blonde a heated glare—which was easily ignored by Lily.

Apparently, the conversation went from Piko to Miku's and Gumi's little brothers. Not that Piko minds, in fact he was glad that the topic stirred away from him. He rather not talk about himself with this strange bunch of juniors. Strangely though, the topic somehow ended to what had happened to them during summer.

"I think I'm having ice cream withdrawals," Kaito said, "I've been eating ice cream the whole summer," he added, while he munch down on his sandwich.

Mikuo smirked, "Suprisingly, you're not having one now!" he said in a sing-song voice.

"You're right," Kaito agreed, slowly he started to get up from his seat, "Perhaps I should get one now…"

"No, you won't," Lily pointed out, "You can't leave campus."

"Oh come on, Lily! Just this once?" Kaito begged, pouting playfully at the blonde. Lily smirked and smugly shaking her head no. "Please! Just once?"

Once again, Piko felt very awkward around them. So he decided to finish his food as soon as possible. Just as he was munching down on his food, the white-head can't help but notice a red-haired student walking towards their table. The red head balanced a tray on one hand, while she massaged her neck with her other hand.

It was Miki Furukawa. The strange red-headed girl with cherry-like eyes.

"H-Hey! Is that Miki?" Mikuo suddenly blurted. Piko turned his head to see the juniors also staring at Miki who was walking towards them.

"It is her!" Miku squealed as she stood from her chair and rushed off towards Miki side.

"M-Miku?" Miki blurted, feeling slightly flustered as Miku wrapped her arms around the red-head.

"I missed you so much!" Miku said, laughing giddily.

Miki smiled and patted the girl on top of her head, "I missed you too, Miku," she said, "So… Would you mind if you let go, _now?_"

Miku laughed sheepishly and walked back to the table with Miki in tow. Piko stared at the juniors and at Miki with confusion. Everyone seemed to know Miki despite the fact that Miki's a sophomore. Piko observed them silently; apparently Miki seemed to be one of their friends. Piko breifly wondered if this group of Juniors were friends with everyone.

"So, you're a sophomore?" Kaito asked.

"Yup," Miki replied as she picked up her juice box and sipped out of it. "After all, I've been gone for a year."

Piko stared at Miki. She's been gone for a year? Would that mean that Miki _used _to be their classmate? If so… What was the reason? Piko turned his attention to the other juniors, they seemed to lost their energy and looked a little saddened.

"So…" Gumi started, her voice held hesitation, "Umm… How is _she_?" she asked. Miki seemed to flinch at the question as she lowered her food from her mouth. Everyone in the group started to quieted down from what Piko could observe.

"She's… fine," Miki replied slowly, a saddened look on her face. Gumi looked a little guilty for suddenly bringing up a very _personal _matter (or from what Piko could observe: it must be very personal). Miki then forced a smile, "A-anyway, you have a brother named Len, right?" Miki asked, directing her question to the Hatsune twins.

Mikuo blinked, "Yeah? What about him?" Mikuo asked, giving Miki a confused stare.

Unconsciously, Miki massaged the red marks on her neck, "He's in the infirmary," she said.

Miku, being the protective-older sister, stood up with an alarmed look on her face. "What happened? What's wrong with Lenny?"

"He collapsed in the hall, but he's alrig—" Before Miki could finish, Miku already bolted down the mess hall to the infirmary. The group of juniors stared at Miku's trail with surprised expressions on their face, then they focused back on Miki.

"What happened?" Mikuo asked, glancing from between Miki to the still-swinging doors of the mess hall.

Miki shrugged, "Don't know, I just saw him collapsed on the floor," she replied. Mikuo made an 'o' shaped with his mouth and nodded his head.

Piko stared at them silently. From what he had heard from their conversation, Miki must be an old friend of them and that she got held back for a year (and something about a '_she_' that they mentioned). She also saw Miku and Mikuo's younger brother unconscious on the floor and brought him to the infirmary… Though, what Piko couldn't understand is the red marks on Miki's neck that she had been rubbing. Perhaps skin irritation? Hmm… Piko wasn't so sure…

A few moments later, Miku returned out of breath and announced that Len was 'fine' and that he just needed some rest, yet the Hatsune remained worried. Also, a mere moments from her announcement, the bell rang, announcing the end of their break. Piko stood up from his chair, he never got to finish his food early like he intended to because he had been listening to the juniors conversation (he did gained a few knowledge about Miki).

"Come on," Miki called, Piko turned his head to her and gave her a confused look. Miki waved him over, "We'll be late, you know. You wouldn't want that, do you?" the red-head said, while flashing him a small smile. Piko stared at her with awe before nodding his head, following the red-head back to their classroom: 2-Furcas.

Piko didn't notice the small smile on his face.

* * *

><p>Len sighed as Miku continued to nag him. Shooting questions at him about what had happened to him and why he collapsed, Mikuo on the otherhand stood by the side—trying to look bored, but Len noticed the worried side-glances he kept giving the blond.<p>

"I'm fine, really," Len assured, raising his hands to prove his point.

"No, you're not fine," Miku said, placing her fists on her hips. Currently, the Hatsune trio was in the infirmary and classes already ended a few minutes ago. The moment the bell had rang, Miku along with Mikuo, immediately rushed towards the infirmary to check on Len. Though Len appeared to be fine, Miku kept insisting that he was not.

Len sighed for the umpteenth time, "I swear, I am fine," Len insisted.

"Nope, you're not," Miku replied, a stubborn pout on her lips. "You're far from fine."

Len made a face, "Then what does that makes me?"

"A psychopath," Mikuo said, butting in to the conversation. Miku slapped him. "Ow!" he cried as he clutched the back of his head.

"As I was saying," Miku continued, making the two male Hatsune to drop their head in exasperation.

"This isn't getting as anywhere," Mikuo pointed out, while Len nodded his head in agreement. "Can we just go home?" he said, tugging on Miku's sleeve. Miku glanced at him for a moment, before finally nodding her head.

"Fine," she said begrudgingly.

"Finally!" the male Hatsunes exclaimed in unison. Len stood from his bed, and followed his siblings out of the room.

"Oi! Len!"

Len felt his body went stiff has he heard a certain familiar voice calling his name. Stiffly, the blond Hatsune turned around to see the _devil_—Gumo Nakajima running towards him, with two bags slung on his shoulder. "Gumo?" Len gave the male Nakajima a blank stare, his thin golden brow raised questioningly.

"Your bag," Gumo said as he handed the other bag on his shoulder to the blond Hatsune.

Len gave him a peculiar look, then he slung his bag into his shoulder, "I see," he mumbled before turning around. The Hatsune twins gave Len a weird look, "What?" Len asked, raising his brows. The twins shook their heads before finally walking down the hallway, leaving Gumo alone in the hallway.

Gumo huffed, "What? No 'thank you' or anything?" he asked to no one in particular, followed by a heavy sigh. The green-head stood there for a few moments, then a grin stretched its way across his lips, "I can't wait for tomorrow!" he announced, as he marched down the hallway, with a huge grin on his face.

Unknowingly, a pair of glowing crimson eyes watched Gumo's back from afar, with silvery strands nearly covering them.

The small laughter didn't reached Gumo's ears.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Some changes with the descriptions and the dialogues.


	5. Chapter Four

**Red as Roses  
><strong>_**Chapter Four**_

A man around his mid-thirties scouted the fifth floor of the high school section of HSL, flashing his torch to every classroom, checking for misplaced equipments in some certain rooms. He hummed a tune as he casually walked around; it was his nightly rounds around the high school section. Every night he was assigned to check the school facilities and the classrooms for any visible problems or any casualties. Tonight, like any other night, everything appeared to be in place; there was not a tool missing or any misplaced equipment.

And like any other night, the halls were empty and were barely lit by the moons pale light. A sigh escaped the man's lips, finally relieved that his nightly roundswerefinally finished… However, he still has to check the roof—then again, the roof was prohibited for students so it was not actually necessary to check. The roof was just your typical plain roof: empty. The man passed the music room, the chemistry room and the storage room, then he arrived by the end of the hall where the stairs were located.

But as the man was about to step down the stairs, a soft (barely hearable) melody—a piano piece—filled the silent halls. He had jumped with surprise; he had just passed the music room and he was sure that no one was there, let alone someone playing the grand piano. Mustering up all of his courage, he slowly walked towards the music room. However just as he was a few feet away, the melody stopped. Silence once again engulfed the darkly lit halls.

A nervous laugh escaped the man's lips, "M-must be hearing things," he said to no one in particular. He fingered his collar and pulled, loosening the cloth around his neck. His heart beat wildly within his chest and sweat slid like beads down his temples. Gulping the lump choking him, he walked back to the set of stairs, his pace faster than normal.

Suddenly he heard soft sniffles coming from the upper floor… Strange, no one should be there… Then again, was someone _actually _there?

The soft sobs seemed to increase its volume. The man felt even more nervous than before, his heart fluttered within his chest faster than normal. He stared up at the metal door leading to the roof top and his grip on his flashlight tightened. Gulping, the man slowly trudged towards the top floor. He breathe in, mustering all of the courage he has left and…

He took the metal handle by his hand and slowly opened the door…

…

* * *

><p>Len sighed as he slipped his bag into his shoulders and he slowly put on his shoes. Miku and Mikuo were waiting for the blond by the front door and shouted for Len to hurry up. Len muttered a 'whatever' under his breath and purposely trudged over the twins slowly just to irritate them more. He can't seem to understand as to why must children and teenagers must go to school? They could always study at home or not study at all; after all, not all what they teach in schoolwasactually useful after they had graduated.<p>

As Len arrived by the twins, Mikuo gave him a slap by the back of his head and hissed, "Damn it, Len! We'll be late!" The blond gave his brother a blank look. Usually, Mikuo could careless about school, what's up with him today (suddenly caring about school)?

Then it hit Len; he suppressed a smirk. Perhaps…"Someone in mind, Mikuo?" Len said in a slight teasing tone (a tone he rarely uses). The tealet froze for a moment, his eyes slightly widening and his back stiffening into a straight line.

"No one," Mikuo replied, coughing into his fist, "No one at all."

Suspicious, Mikuo. Very suspicious.

"Whatever!" Miku interrupted, grabbing Len's and Mikuo's arms and pulled them out of the doorway, "We'll be late!" she shouted as she dashed down the sidewalk with Len and Mikuo in tow.

Three weeks had already passed ever since school began. And Len's life has been a living hell ever since; first of, an ominous figure was haunting him in his sleep. Second, he's seeing a strange presence (who he suspects as the one appearing in his dreams). And thirdly, Len hated going to school and one of those reasons was the irritating Gumo Nakajima and the two girls seemingly following them around: Neru Akita and Teto Kasane.

Speaking of Neru, as the Hatsune arrived at HSL's compound, Len immediately noticed the blonde talking to another person—a boy—who looks awfully like her. The Hatsune twins bid goodbye to Len and they immediately rushed to their classroom—though Len could've sworn Mikuo stared at Neru for a moment, his cheeks slightly reddening before rushing off with Miku.

Len returned his attention to Neru. The blonde's face was red from irritation, the person talking or rather shouting at her has the same irritated expression on his face. The two were in a heated conversation, exchanging shouts and heated glare. Len knew that he should go but he can't help but wonder what the two was arguing about.

"Just stay away from him, goddamn it!" the male hissed, narrowing his eyes dangerously at Neru. (Len theorizes that the blond male was somehow related to Akita.)

Neru's face turned into a very unappealing scowl, "You're not the boss of me Nero!" she retorted, her fists shaking with anger.

Nero? Hmm… Perhaps he's Neru's brother, Len thought.

The pair of blonds continued their argument, not until a certain green-head decided to interrupt them. "Hey, Neru!" Gumo Nakajima greeted, slapping a hand on Neru's back and flashed the girl a huge grin. The pair of blonds glanced at Gumo for a moment, slightly surprised from his sudden entrance.

"Tch, I'll see you later," Nero hissed, giving Neru once last look before turning his head—to Len's surprise—to Len's direction and gave the blond Hatsune a cold glare before finally walked off. Len frowned, 'What's his problem?' Len mused as he watched Nero's retreating form with his light greenish eyes.

As soon as Nero disappeared within the school grounds—probably in the college section—the first bell finally rang. Len's eyes widened and he immediately dashed to his classroom—with Neru and Gumo right behind his trail, though they were lagging behind as they appear to be in some sort of an argument.

"Who the hell was that guy?" Gumo questioned as they rushed up the stairs.

"No one," Neru replied, her ugly scowl still plastered on her face, "Just a jerk."

Gumo pursed his lips, feeling a little suspicious before reluctantly nodding his head. "By the way, where's Teto?" he had asked again, both of them still running down the somewhat student-filled hall (Len had already gone first and disappeared within the crowd of freshmen). They squeezed through the crowd of students, having to shove someone from here and there before finally arriving in front of their classroom. Strangely, everyone was standing by outside of their classroom, idly looking around and chattering loudly with each other.

Neru and Gumo exchanged confused looks. Then, Teto—out from the crowd of her classmates—walked towards them, holding a small white board and a whiteboard marker. She has a peculiar look on her face, then she scribbled down her board and raised it to show to her confused friends.

'_The classrooms are still locked,' _was what was written in her board.

Gumo's and Neru's brows rose, nearly touching their hairlines. "Why?" Neru asked. Teto then erased her words, and started to scribble once again. But then they noticed Len standing inconspicuously next to Teto.

"They said that the janitor is missing," Len said, trying to look uncaring. Teto looked up at him and gave him a thankful smile, after all, it was quite a hassle to jot down words and erase it every time.

"Janitor? You mean, Mr. Wallace?" Gumo asked, joining in the conversation.

Teto shook her heads and she immediately jot down her reply, _'No, it's the new one, Mr. Alex. '_

"Damn it," Neru started, her voice held irritation as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "This so not worth my time, I should have stayed home!"

Len couldn't agree more. A sigh escaped his lips and he rested his back against the wall. "Might as well we entertain ourselves," Gumo suggested, his usual grin graced his lips; the grin that irked Len every time he saw it. "So, Neru… About that guy again…"

Neru groaned, resisting the urge to pummel her fists on Gumo's 'oh-so-handsome' face. "Could you _please _not bring up that topic, moss," she hissed, giving the green-head an angry glare.

"Hey! I told you not to call me that!"

"Hah! I can call you whatever I want! Stupid Moss!"

And so, the childish bickering of the blonde and the green-head started—the bickering that irked Len even more. Though, Teto at times tried to be the mediator and some times attempted to stop the argument between the two. However, even Teto could get tired trying; there were times where her attempts were ignore.

The pair continued their childish banters—in which Teto and Len ignored while idly standing by the side and waiting for someone—perhaps a school staff—to finally unlock their classrooms. After all, they should somehow have spare keys for the room.

(The second bell rang. And yet, no one came to unlock the doors.)

"Alright, everyone! Settle down!"

Len turned his head to see Kiyoteru attempting to quiet down the students—with, of course, the help of the other teachers. Kiyoteru stood by his class, Amon, and gathered them around, "Alright, everyone! Fall in line!" Kiyoteru ordered in which the students obediently followed, creating a line of two; a line for the boys and a line for the girls.

The other sections proceeded to head down stairs and the teachers gathered the students—from freshmen to seniors—right in front of the high school building. Len then noticed the sirens blaring from the distance, getting louder and louder as it got close to the school. Students watched in confusion as an ambulance halted right in front of the school. Mister Leon Masuda, the head principal, approached the paramedics exiting the ambulance.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Gumo asked, his voice somehow held astonishment and curiosity. His classmates ignored his question, their eyes glued on the paramedics rushing into the high school building, carrying a gurney with them and soon they disappeared within the building.

Noisy chatters erupted from the student body, buzzing like thousands of bees. Len looked around; everyone was whispering among themselves with confused expressions on their faces. Len has a slight feeling… _Could it be that Mr. Alex is… No… But…_

"Everyone calm down," Mr. Leon called out, with some of the teachers, attempting to quiet down the confused students talking among themselves. "The school staff is facing… casualties… As of the current, classes will be suspended until further notice…"

Len had droned out Leon's announcement and focused his eyes on the stretcher the paramedics were carrying. A body was placed on top of it and Len was sure that it was Mr. Alex. Time seemed to stop at that time and a soft melody, a piano piece being played, reached his ears. The blond's eyes widened and he looked around. _Where is that song coming from?_

No one seemed to notice the soft melody playing in the background. Len felt a little confused; no one can seem to hear the playing of a piano… A piano… There's a piano at the fifth floor.

With some strange urge, Len looked up, his eyes landing on the fifth floor's window.

His whole body froze, his eye widening.

His green eyes stared back at dead crimson ones, with long silvery strands framing around them.

There was a face, a ghostly pale face, and long silver hair fluttering around from a non-existing wind.

"—en."

"Hey!"

"Len!"

Len jerked in surprise, he peeled his eyes from the fifth floor window and turned his head to Gumo and Neru—the persons who had been calling him.

"What's wrong?" Neru asked with a skeptical brow raised, her fists resting on her hips. Gumo and Teto have the same skeptical look on their faces.

"You spaced out," Gumo pointed out.

Len stared at them for a moment, he took a quick glance at the fifth floor window and found that the presence that he saw to be gone. He returned his attention back to his classmates. "It's nothing," he replied, trying to look as casual as possible. They gave Len one last suspicious look, before returning their attention back to the head principal. Len has a frown on his face, his mind deep in thought and he unconsciously looked back at the fifth floor.

_Who is that…? And the melody… I could've sworn I heard it somewhere before…_

* * *

><p>Piko arrived at HSL earlier than usual with nearly half an hour to spare. A few students were already there, though strangely, all of them haven't entered their classrooms just yet. The silver-head arrived at the third floor—where his classroom was located—and he found himself standing by awkwardly right in front of his classroom, Furcas. Some of his classmates gave him weird looks as they whispered with one another. Piko stared at the floor nervously, feeling some of the sophomores' gazes boring painful holes on his back. He ignored their stares and tried turning the knob but it was locked.<p>

Piko pursed his lips and looked around; he could wait here with the others but the other doesn't want his presence around them. Lowering his head, Piko walked towards the stairs and headed up to the fifth floor where the music room was located. Piko may not look it but he loved playing the piano (also having his own grand piano in his house). As Piko passed the fourth floor, he noticed the juniors and seniors (they share the same floors) facing the same problems of locked classrooms and being forced to wait outside.

Soon, (after passing a pair of seniors making out) Piko arrived at the fifth floor and he treaded towards the music room. However, to his surprise, he saw a certain red-head standing in front of the room, her hand on the handle, ready to turn it open.

"M-Miki?" Piko stuttered, his eyes wide with surprise.

Miki turned her head, her face held the same surprised expression with her cheeks slightly reddening. "A-ah, Piko!" she greeted, cracking a small smile, "U-uh… Hey?"

Piko raised a brow at Miki's weird demeanor; his eyes gazed from between Miki and the music room's door. "What… are you doing here?" Piko asked slowly, his turquoise eyes focused on Miki's hand still holding the room's knob.

"Ah! Um, I was just checking, you see…" Miki trailed off, her voice held strange nervousness—she was acting strangely out of character. "Um… What are you doing here?" Miki asked back, her face slightly flustered.

Piko shyly rubbed his arm with his hand while his eyes glanced at the side, "I was just… Uh…I want to…" Piko trailed off, feeling more nervous as he felt Miki's cherry eyes staring down at him.

But Miki's gaze soften, a small smile gracing his lips. "I got it," she said, placing a hand Piko's shoulder. The silver-head recoiled back but relaxed under the girl's touch, his own smile gracing his lips. "Alright," Miki turned back, she pulled out a paper clip from her pocket and—to Piko's surprise—started to pick the door's lock. Then there was a click, Miki smiled lopsidedly, "It was locked, so…"

Piko nodded his head slowly, then followed the red-head into the room. Miki motioned for Piko, waving him to sit on the piano's stool, giving him a soft smile, "You can play, right?" she asked. Piko nodded his head reluctantly, "Can you play for me?"

"A-alright," Piko said as he sat down on the stool, his back felt stiff and was arched straight. He flexed his shaking fingers and placed them over the keys with his right thumb lingering above the middle C. He turned to look at Miki and the girl urged him to start, a smile on her lips. Piko returned the smile and turned his attention back at the piano. He breathed in to calm his nerves and he started…

A soft tune filled the music room. Slender fingers expertly landed on the right keys, creating soft tones, turning it into a complete melody.

Miki watched Piko with awe; she never thought Piko could be that good. And that melody…

…

Soon, Piko stopped, his fingers pausing above the piano keys. He slowly looked up Miki, his face held hesitation. "Um… How was it?" he asked slowly. Confusion replaced Piko's expression as he saw Miki staring at the piano intently, deep in thought. "Miki?"

Miki jerked up, her eyes stared at Piko with confusion, "Where did you learn that…?" she asked, her voice somehow sounded unsure.

Piko paused and broke eye-contact with Miki, a saddened look upon his face. "My sister taught me that… She composed it with her friend," Piko answered, his eyes focused on the piano keys.

"Oh…" Miki nodded her head, "It's… I think… It's really good!" she said, though her smile looked a little forced. But Piko didn't noticed it and replied, "Thanks…"

"We should go now," Miki said, checking her wrist watch, "Classes will start in a few minutes." Piko nodded, he stood from the stool and followed Miki out of the room (she locked it before exiting).

Miki pursed her lips, her brows furrowing together. The song… that Piko played… was the same song she heard… That song had been the reason why she had ran towards the music room. She was idly standing in front of her classroom when she suddenly heard that melody. JShe immediately rushed to the music room, only to find it empty. At first she thought that she was just hearing things. But then, Piko suddenly appeared. Not only that, he played the same exact song!

'_My sister taught me that…'_

"Piko?" Miki suddenly stopped as they were about to step down the stairs. Piko turned his head and sent the red-head a questioning look. "Where's your siste—"

"Oi, kids! What are you doing here?" A loud yet old voice questioned—cutting Miki by mid-sentence. The pair of sophomores turned around to see Mr. Wallace staring at them with a questioning look on his old and already-wrinkling face.

"Uhh… We…" Miki trailed off, smiling nervously.

Mr. Wallace sighed heavily, shooing the pair away, "Just go back to your classrooms!"

"Uhh… That's the problem, the classrooms are still locked," Miki said slowly.

"What?" the old man bellowed, his eyes flaring with anger. He then started to grumble under his breath, muttering something along the line 'no good', 'Alex', and 'goofing off'. Then the creaking of a metal door—the rooftop's door—attracted the man's and the teenagers' attention. Mr. Wallace looked up, an angry scowl on his face, "He probably fell asleep during night duties," he grumbled, more to himself.

"Oi, Alex!" Mr. Wallace called out as he climbed the stairs. Miki and Piko exchanged knowing looks, communicating silently with their eyes, and deciding this moment to slip away from the enraged janitor. However, as they were about to reach the fourth floor, they had halted when they heard the old man's startled scream. It also attracted some of the seniors' attention.

The pair turned around to see a panting Mr. Wallace rushing down the stairs. "S-somebody! Call the ambulance!"

"What's wrong?" a auburn-haired senior asked, approaching the shaking man.

Mr. Wallace took the senior by the collar and pulled him, "Just call a _fucking _ambulance!" he practically screamed at the student.

"Alright-alright!" the senior said, pushing the man's hands away and pulled out his cell phone. "Wait… What's the hospital's number again?"

"Give me that!" Mr. Wallace growled, taking the phone and dialed down the number.

"Hey! I have you know, that baby is new!"

"Come on," Miki whispered to Piko and pulled him, both of them dashing down the stairs to their classroom floor. The two were panting when they arrived, making their classmates give them weird looks. Miki expertly ignored their stares but Piko couldn't help but shrink under their eyes. "What do you think happened?" Miki asked, looking over at Piko. The silver-head shrugged his shoulders; he was just as confused as Miki.

Soon, the bell rang and yet the classrooms were still locked. They saw Mr. Wallace rushing down the stairs—probably headed to the principal's office to inform… what ever he saw…

After the second bell rang, their homeroom teacher arrived with the other teacher for 2-Eligos—the other section. Their teacher ordered the sophomores to line up and directed them to line up in front of the high school building, along with the other year levels. Piko could hear the blaring sounds of a distant ambulance, getting louder as it neared the school's vicinity. Loud chatters erupted from the students as they saw an ambulance halting in front of the school gates.

Piko saw Mr. Masuda—Lily's father—approaching the paramedics, then he walked back to the crowd of students talking among themselves.

"What's going on?" Piko turned his head to see Mikuo and Miku lingering around the sophomores, away from their classmates (3-Gremory). Mikuo was the one who asked the question and strangely, he was looking directly at Piko.

"Uhh?" was Piko's 'intelligent' reply, staring at Mikuo with a confused expression. Mikuo approached him slowly with a contemplating look on his face. Piko shrunk from under Mikuo's gaze but then a confused look replaced Mikuo's intense stare.

"I could've sworn someone was standing behind you," the Hatsune said, smiling sheepishly. "Must be seeing things," he added, followed by his laugh.

"Someone…?" Piko muttered, looking behind him, only to find it empty—except for the walking sophomores.

"Anyway," Mikuo started once again, slapping a hand on Piko's shoulder, "Classes got suspended! More time for online games!" he exclaimed, grinning widely. "We'll see you later!" Mikuo said, waving goodbye as he and his twin sister walked away back to their own line.

Piko stared at their retreating form, until he felt a gaze boring down his back, sending shivers down his spine. He spun around, for a moment, he caught glimpse of silver but it faded away before he could see what it was.

"Something wrong, Piko?" Miki asked, staring at Piko with slightly worried eyes. Piko looked back at her and shook his head reassuringly. "Oh… Okay. I'll see you later," Miki said as she also walked away. Students were already leaving the campus—Mr. Masuda's announcement had stopped moments ago—and only a few, plus himself, was left.

Piko shifted his bag in his shoulders and slowly walked away from the school (the ambulance already left). Piko was absorbed in his thoughts that he accidentally bumped on someone, making him back a few steps away.

"S-sorry," he apologized, bowing his head. He looked up to see a freshman staring back at him with strange light-green eyes, and blond locks nearly covering them.

"It's alright," was what the blond replied, before walking away, towards (to Piko's confusion) the waiting Hatsune twins. _Is he somehow related to them? He doesn't look like them at all, _Piko thought confusedly. _He can't possibly be… Len was it?_

Piko shook his head, and finally walked away.

Yet, somehow… He could still feel the cold gaze watching his back as he walked away from the school.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Just changed some of the descriptions and the some of the dialogues. And oh! As you might have noticed, I've made Len a little nicer and lessened his the-devil-may-care attitude.


	6. Chapter Five

**Red as Roses  
><strong>_**Chapter Five**_

White. The horrible familiar white filled his line of vision once again. But this time, it was not the endless hallway of white, or the stark white room stained by the dark red splotches. Instead, this time, he's in a white room, with a peculiar grand piano—that was white in color, and a complex mirror on one side of the rectangular room. He looked down to see himself wearing a white Victorian suit with black intricate designs of roses, a matching white pants with the similar designs—only in black, a pair of white Victorian dress shoes, and white gloves donned his hands. He was sitting on a white chair made out of leather, with his arms resting on the wooden arms with carved leaf-like lines, creating an elaborated design.

"Wh-what…?" Len stared down at his clothing with confusion. He slowly stood up from the chair, as he gazed around the peculiar room—confusion clearly written on his face. His eyes then landed on the piano, he slowly made his way towards it, and then he placed a gloved hand on top of it. Its wooden surface was smooth, with his gloved finger sliding across the stark white cover. Then, a slight movement from the corner of his eyes caught his attention. Turning his head, he stared at the overly-large mirror, and then his hand went back to his side as he slowly walked towards the mirror. The mirror stood from the floor until it reached the ceiling. Its frames were made out of silver, curving and twisting into a very complex design. Then his green eyes landed on the smooth surface of the glass standing right before him.

Reflected on the mirror was himself, however, the Len reflected off from the mirror was wearing a black variation of his garments. Also, his blond hair appeared darker than before, his skin lacked more of its color, and his eyes were much lighter, and more yellowish in color. Len felt a shiver ran down his spine as he stared at his reflection; his reflection's pupils were strangely slanted. Behind his reflection was a black version of the stark white room. However, the piano is ruined and destroyed, and the elegant velvet chair is lacking its limbs, splinters served as the only reminder of where the legs used to be. The walls were black, with patches of the wallpaper are peeling off like dead skin, and underneath the peeling patches was a wall that seemed to be made out of flesh, throbbing and beating like that of a heart's, pumping with dark purplish veins weaving across the organic wall. Len's spine ran cold as ice as he trained his eyes at the peculiar wall.

His heart banged against his ribcage, fastening and throbbing painfully, as the hair at the back of his neck stood on its ends, with goose-bumps crawling like a rash across his arms. His eyes finally left the wall and it landed back to his reflections yellowish, inhumaneyes. Len felt himself moving closer towards the mirror, until he was merely a few feet away from it. His hand rose on its own, he watched with slight fascination at the back his gloved hand as he placed it on top of the mirror's cold and smooth surface; his reflection did the same.

But then, red oddly seeped from the mirror, dripping down from beneath Len's hand. The blonde's eyes widened and he immediately pulled back his hand, somehow regaining control of his limbs. Red dampness filled his glove, sticky liquid dripped down from his palms and into the cuffs of his clothing. Then he turned back his attention at the mirror—his reflection stared down at him, chin raised proudly-mockingly, and his lips were curved up in a cold and vicious grin, with red dripping from the corner of his pale lips. Len can only stare in horror—he can only look in disbelief at the mirror. Slowly, he backed away, his body was trembling against his will, and his limbs can only shake while his knees weakened against his own weight. Sweat dripped down his forehead, and his throat seemed too dry and his clothes too hot and tight against his skin. Len can feel his insides wrenching and twisting in disgust as he continued to stare against his perverse doppelganger.

The reflection chuckled coldly, and it sent shivers against the blonde's spine, Len is sure it came from the mirror—even with his mouth open, his voice is stuck inside his own throat—, as the reflection slowly approached the glass. Len expected him to pass through the glass; however the reflection placed his black-gloved palms on top of the barrier with his forehead pressing against it. The glass prevented him to pass through, Len hoped.

"Hey." Len felt his body went stiff when the reflection spoke, mischief danced across the reflection's eyes, his lips still curved up into a nasty grin. "Can you play for _her?_" the reflection asked, his voice hoarse and raspy—as if unused to talking, his gloved finger pointed something behind Len. The blond hesitantly turned his head, following the direction the reflection is pointing at, which was the piano. The reflection purred, his rough voice vibrating by the base of his throat, his eyes lighting up with excitement, "Yes, yes! Play for _her_!"

Len looked back at his—can he still call it _his?—the _reflection, with a confused expression. "H-her?" he questioned, his voice slightly cracking from nervousness.

The reflection smiled from ear to ear, bobbing his head like a child. "Yes, yes! _Her_! For _her_!"

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Len asked again, slowly backing away from the mirror, his dress shoes clacking against the white clear floor.

The reflection's eyes widened, his lips dropping into a frown, "What do you mean? For _her! _Why can't you play for _**her**_?" the reflection demanded, his voice lowering a few pitches. His eyes narrowed, glaring coldly at Len. "_**Play. Play. Play. PLAY!**_" the reflection growled, repeating the words over on over again.

Len winced at the harsh voice grinding in his ear drums. He tried to block the guttural voice, but his attempts were all in vain. "Stop! Stop it! Shut up!" he shouted, blocking his ears with his hands.

The reflection started to trash from behind the glass, his fists were pounding against the glass, a sharp crack resonated from the air, and it reminded Len of breaking bones. Then another followed, soon the mirror is laden with small cracks, with dark red liquid seeping at the edges, dripping along the slowly shattering surface like sweet syrup. The reflection held its head back, an inhuman cry rang in the air then the reflection stared back at Len smugly. He grinned, exposing teeth that seemed too sharp and a small giggle escaped the reflection's throat, and his hands began to claw on the mirror and much like the cracks, his giggling turned louder and higher pitched. Mad laughter echoed across the room, bouncing off the walls and reverberating hauntingly in Len's ears.

Len can only stare, frozen as the perverse copy laughed away as he clawed against the mirror. The glass was slowly falling apart, tearing away the fabric of the copy's glove, the shards embed themselves on the pale and sickly skin. The glass was stabbing deep and tearing away at the skin, searing through flesh and exposing small bones.

Idly, a small part of Len's brain mused that more blood seemed to have been pouring out of the mirror in a manner similar to water breaking through a cave wall. However, a larger part of Len's brain commanded that he should run away while he still can, but his body refused to move.

With a blood curling cry, the copy's hand passed through the glass. A nasty triumphant grin twisted itself on the fake's face and soon enough, deranged laughter escaped his lips.

"You're going to play for _her_, won't you _Len_?" Len can only stare, too deeply rooted on the floor to move away. Len can only stare at the hand with shards stabbing against the skin and some of the skin and flesh torn away. A peculiar air filled the room, Len can't identify what it is, but it is definitely not pleasant. With wide eyes and teeth glinting dangerously, giggles escaped the copy's mouth as he continued to question the blond. "You'll play for _her_, right?"

Then the copy pulled his hand away, shards fell on the floor, shattering and splintering into smaller shards. With another cry, the copy lunged at the mirror.

An ear-shattering crash pounded against Len's ears, shards of glass were flying from all directions, yet none seemed to have hit him, Len thought.

Then pain.

All Len knew that he was in pain, burning daggers are etching in his skin, and his own blood was boiling inside his veins. Something was pounding inside his head, he could feel his brain smashing against his own skull, and his eyes were on fire and his ears were shattering again and again. His heart is beating too fast, one moment it would stop then it would make a painful throb. He could hear laughter, but he paid it no heed as his bones all felt broken and splintering against his flesh. His whole body was on fire, with daggers digging inside his skin and piercing his innards. Even breathing is painful, for his lungs refused to move to their purpose, they would freeze then they would move involuntarily, his ribs are already crashing against his lungs. His stomach is already twisting itself already into knots, throbbing and wrenching painfully, with the distinct sound of mad laughter echoing like a broken record in a lost memory.

Then there was only pain, and Len knew nothing but pain. This excruciating pain that filled his very being, from the very tips of his fingers then to his aching limbs, seeping on his skin, coursing angrily in his veins, tearing through flesh and shattering his bones. There was nothing but pain that he could not bear—could not _understand_, what had he done to deserve such punishment? He can only wish for it to go away, to end it all… All he wanted is to _die_ and end it all. Die and forever be free of the pain, free of this torture, free of the copy that laughed at his pain, and free of—

"_Why won't you play for her?_" The pain was gone, but there was only a voice. It questioned him, and soon, he knew everything about himself again—he can _feel_ himself again, the confusion and pain was gone. Much like how abrupt it came, and then it was gone, only dull aching served as a reminder.

It was _that_ voice, his copy's voice. The doppelganger's voice was so childish and dry and raspy, and oh so haunted and unused and so full of twisted curiosity that grated his ears.

"_Play, Len! Play!" _Then there was pain again, but not as severe as it was earlier, fortunately it is still not enough to make every breath and heartbeat painful. Len grinded his teeth together, his eyes tightly shut as his body curled into a tight ball. His hands were still clutching his head, his knees were pressed against jaw, and his arms were pressed against his body. The copy was talking to him—his voice was grating in his ears, jeering him on to play. It was horrible, Len decided, nails scratching against a chalkboard would sounded better than _this_.

A moan of pain escaped Len's lips, slowly, his skull began to pound, the ache becoming much more painful. There was only pain pounding against his skull, he did not know how long it took, but the pain stood at a standstill, never receding, never increasing until it was nothing more than a dull throb. Then a melody began to play. It was childish and a little clumsy, with notes hitting wrong keys and the tune losing its form, but it was strangely soothing. Soon enough, the pain began to go away as the mad laughter drowned against the music, washed away by the melody. As the music played, the throbbing ache in Len's head slowly leveled down. Not a moment longer, it was completely gone.

Hesitantly, Len cracked an eye open. Around him, a puddle of blood formed staining the pristine white room and his clothes. Shards of the mirror scattered chaotically in the room, each showing a single reflection, twisting, distorting, and multiplying, creating collages of the occupant of the room. The music was still there, it continued to play, and it came from the piano. Unsurely, Len's eyes lingered towards the piano as he propped himself on his elbows with his knees up, so that he may sit on the floor.

His eyes widened as he saw a blond child sitting right in front of the piano, his small fingers messily pressing the keys. He was playing the same tune Len had heard… Wait, where _did_ he heard that melody?

"_She_ used to play this song," the child said, his voice soft and small, and somehow sounded a little familiar to Len. "I can't play it properly… But I guess it could keep _him _away for a while," the child continued, his head never turning away from the piano. Len stood from the ground, brushing the invisible dust off his bloodstained white clothes. He looked around the room, and then he focused his eyes back at the child.

"Him?" Len asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"That guy," the child answered, never turning, his fingers never missing a beat as he pressed the piano's keys with his clumsy fingers. "The _real _you."

"W-what?" Len was horrified of the child's words. The _real _him? What—?

The child suddenly stopped, the melody hasn't yet reached its ending. "I forgot the next notes…" he mumbled, his voice small as he fingered the keys, trailing his fingers across the white keys. Len felt his heart fastened its beating as the child slowly turned his head, "_**How about you? Can you play for her?**_"

A lump stuck in the teen's throat as he can only gaze at the pit less sockets where the eyes of the child _should_ lay. An abyss of darkness serves as his eyes, his sockets exposed and black with something throbbing and squelching inside that Len doesn't want to know. Blood was pouring down like tears down the child's cheeks. Perhaps those were his tears, stained red by the blood in those eyeless holes. Then the child smiled.

A pair of short cuts was on the edges of the child's lips, then his lips pulled itself up. Then the cuts began to tear away at the face, ripping the skin away, exposing the layers of flesh until it reached the bone. The cut ripped until it reached the ears, and Len can only look as his own body refused to move, paralyzed. The rip went on and on and it never stopped, veins were falling off and flesh piling down with the bone beginning to blacken and his face can only be twisted and turned as sticky yellow mucus poured down the floor that burnt the face and worms were crawling out of the sockets with teeth falling off as flies began to fly… And Len can never look away because that was _his own_ face, and _he_—his own face is rotting before his very eyes—

Len woke with a jolt, his body springing up into a sitting position. He panted heavily as cold sticky sweat covered his skin. His heart banged against his chest, as he heaved the air with heavy breaths, inhaling and exhaling as he calmed himself down.

_It was another dream._

A groan escaped Len's lips as he buried his face on his wet palms, his frame still shaking from shock. The dream was horrifying and grotesque as ever, and it left Len more frightened and confused than before. Questions swirled around his mind; _what does his dreams meant? Why is he having those dreams anyway? Who is 'she'? What does that 'child' meant? What does he mean by 'the real you'? What is going on? Is it somehow related to his past?_

His past…? Now that he thought of it, Len never wondered about his past. He feels rather apathetic about his past. He never really tried knowing about it.

Is he really a 'Hatsune'? Is he really related to them?

Len somehow felt this sudden emptiness within his chest, eating away at his very being. His past, why does it feel important now? He never bothered learning it, but why does he feel the need to know it _now_? What does his past really held? Who is he anyway? Len shivered as he wrapped his hands around him; he doesn't know a thing about his own self! He never knew a thing about his real identity—he was merely a shell of his past, an empty canvas void of its colors. What is his _real _color? Who is the _real _Len?

_No… I never tried to know it before, why bother knowing it now? _Len asked himself, his eyes boring holes on his wet and tangled sheets. With a heavy sigh, Len's arms dropped to his sides, and pushed the disturbing dream to the dark abyss of his mind, pushing it away, forgetting it like he always does. He felt a shiver racked his body, as the child's eye less sockets flashed before his eyes, making his heart throb fast once again. He violently shook his head, in attempt to drive the disturbing image away, and throwing it back to the dark pits of his mind, and to be forgotten like his other dreams that haunted him in his sleep.

Len took in calm breaths to relax his mind and body and to calm his distressed nerves. When he was sure his heart had slowed down, he turned his head to his yellow clock, and its blaring numbers announced that it was '3:03' in the morning. Len pursed his lips as he swung his legs to the side, wiping the beads of cold sweat sliding down his temples. His wet blond locks irritatingly stick to his skin. The blond treaded his way out the hall, and made his way down stairs to the kitchen. He stopped momentarily by the living room where he saw his mother, Meiko, slumped over the couch with empty cans of beer littered around her.

Len sighed once again, he went back upstairs and took Meiko's blanket from her room, then he returned back to the living room and stood over her. Len straightened the woman, and turned her into a more comfortable position, and then he draped the blanket over Meiko's form. A soft mumble escaped Meiko's lips as she turned to the other side, clutching the blanket in her arms as she curled into a fetal position.

The blond stared at the brunette; is Meiko really is his mother? He knew he had noticed this before, he knew that whenever he looks, and from what angle he looks, he could never find any resemblance between him, Meiko, and the twins. Oh, the twins pretty much looks like Meiko, with the shape of their head, until to the shape of their eyes. Meiko and the twins have pretty eyes. The twins probably inherited their eye color and their hair color from their deceased father. But Len, no matter where he looks, he doesn't look like them…

A growl escaped Len's lips, silently scolding himself just to forget about it; just forget about the possibility that he and the Hatsune aren't related.

_Because it doesn't matter, _Len thought to himself, _it never mattered._

Len sighed heavily through his nose, as he made his way towards he kitchen to get a glass of water. After gulping it down, he checked the clock to learn that only a few minutes had passed. There was a lot of time to spare, and classes are still suspended (ever since the incident with Mr. Alex which happened two days ago). And still, Len doesn't want to return to sleep.

After all, he is 'slightly' frightened of the idea of returning to sleep.

What more grotesque images and disturbing personas will he meet in his dreams? Would there be something more _demented _other than the 'eye-less' child, and the dark 'demonic' entity?

A shudder ran down his spine. He doesn't want to return to sleep, that's for sure. Len turned to the stove and started to heat water. Coffee should keep him awake.

* * *

><p>Mikuo sat by the foot of the sofa—where his mother is sleeping—as his eyes were focused on the television's blaring screen. His fingers expertly pressed the right buttons to make his character execute a very complex combo of kicks and punches. Right by the wall at the side of the room, the clock blared with bright red numbers, '6:38 a.m.' was what it says. And yes, Mikuo plays as early as six—that is if he doesn't wake his mother. However, just as he was about to send the final attack to his opponent, the telephone took this moment to ring, its beeping made Mikuo cringed, fearing that it would wake his unconscious mother. Mikuo felt his heart fasten when Meiko twisted around the sofa, groaning and mumbling in her sleep.<p>

Deciding that it would be best to answer the phone—as not to wake his mother—, Mikuo finally stood up and begrudgingly answered the phone, feeling a little irritated for disturbing him from his game.

"Hello?" Mikuo answered gruffly, his face held annoyance. However, his face gradually turned from irritation to surprise, "Yes, this is the Hatsune household… Oh… Okay…" Then the speaker hanged up, leaving Mikuo staring at the telephone's speaker with a dumbfounded expression on his face. It took him approximately two minutes to digest what the caller had said.

'_Classes resumes today…'_

"What?" Mikuo blurted out, disbelief present in his features, then clumsily replacing the phone back to its holder. Classes will resume today, that statement really caught the tealet off guard—he was at least expecting class to start again after a week after the incident with the locked classrooms and with Mr. Alex. But only a mere two days had passed, and now, classes will resume once again. With a heavy sigh, Mikuo saved his game and placed the game console back to its place. He then headed upstairs to wake his siblings, and to announce the 'horrifying' news.

Mikuo first went to his twin's room; he slowly approached his sleeping sister, his hand hovering over her shoulder—the male Hatsune hesitated as he debated with himself if waking his sister is a good idea or not, after all, Miku is _not _a princess whenever she wakes up, especially when someone dared to disturb her from her 'beauty' sleep. She could be a horrifying dragon rather than an elegant maiden.

Mikuo decided it's best to wake his twin later—or better yet, have Len wake her instead. Turning on his heels, Mikuo exited the room and headed farther down the hallway to Len's room. Mikuo placed his knuckles against the wooden door, hesitating whether to barge in like any sibling would or to knock and politely ask for entrance. Then again, Len could be asleep… Twisting the knob, Mikuo entered his brother's room without permission. His mouth opened to shout at Len to wake up, only to find his voice stuck in his throat as he saw Len sitting on his bed, wide awake.

Len turned his head to Mikuo with a thin brow raised, "What?" the blond asked.

For a moment, Mikuo actually forgot why he barged in to Len's room. "Uhh…" Mikuo mumbled 'intelligently' as he stared at Len—the blonde's hair was disheveled, and stood on different directions, there were dark bags under his eyes, his skin looked paler than usual, and his eyes were slightly wide and bloodshot. "Uhm… Oh… Ah, HSL called," Mikuo said, his eyes never leaving Len's slightly shaking form. "They said classes resumes today."

"Oh," was what Len replied, his hand brushed across his tousled locks.

"You don't look so good," Mikuo pointed out, taking note of Len's 'unattractive' appearance, "You look like you didn't sleep well… You' alright?"

"I'm fine," Len grumbled as he stood from his bed, and brushed pass Mikuo by the doorway and headed down to the bathroom.

"Sheesh," Mikuo rubbed the back of his neck as he watched his sibling's retreating back, also taking note that Len's acting grumpier than usual.

* * *

><p>When the Hatsune trio arrived at HSL's compound, Len immediately left the twins and headed to his classroom, not leaving them with even just a simple wave or a goodbye. 'Len's sick,' was what the twins decided as they begrudgingly went to their own room. Students and fellow classmates greeted each other, murmuring words of greetings and sickly sweet nothings. Len glared up at them with disdain, as he trudged back at his desk at 1-Amon. Feeling disgusted at their exchange of words and foolish affections. Whispers and mindless chatter rang against the blonde's ear, students exchanging words about the incident which had occurred just a few days ago.<p>

Not soon after, Gumo arrived, followed by Neru and Teto. The green-head had greeted Len as always, and the blond Hatsune would reply with a grunt of acknowledgement, then he turned his attention to the sky, ignoring Gumo and his classmates until it was lunch time. When the bell had rang, Len immediately headed to the library and he avoided Gumo and the girls—leaving the trio confused at his demeanor. When Len arrived at the library, he took a vacant seat by the window, and he pulled out a book from the shelves by random.

He rested his jaw against his palm, and mindlessly skimmed through the book—which was a collection of short stories and poems of a certain author. Len found the written works to be quite… _demented_ and horrifying; seeing that almost all of it is about death, obsessions, insanity, and paranoia.

"Didn't know you like Edgar Allan Poe," an all too familiar voice chirped in. With a groan of annoyance, Len looked up, not at all surprised to see Gumo beaming at him with his idiotic smile. "He's twisted, isn't he?" Gumo said, as he sat right across Len.

Len pursed his lips, "Not really," he mumbled, which made the green-head stare at him with wide eyes, and a horrified expression on his face. Len at first felt confused, then realization—Len mentally slapped himself for answering vaguely, "N-no! What I meant is that I don't really know much about Edgar Waller…"

"Edgar Allan Poe."

"Hn, whatever."

Gumo pouted, as he flipped through the book that he is holding. "You know, the classroom incident has been bugging me for the last two days," Gumo said, yet his eyes were focused on the block of texts of the book. Len remained silent, the green-head took this moment to continue. "They said that Mr. Alex is dead, even before Mr. Wallace saw him."

Len slowly looked up from his book, and gave Gumo weird look. "You mean… Someone killed him?" Len asked slowly, feeling a little strange that he is actually talking to Gumo, though he pushed the feeling down.

Gumo made a grim look, as he shook his head, his long green bangs swaying and following Gumo's head movement. "Not really… They said that they found Mr. Alex with injuries like he had fallen from a building," Gumo deadpanned, a serious look on his face. Len stared at him blankly, taking his words lightly. Of course, how could someone receive injuries like they fallen from a building, when they found the body on the highest floor in the school's compound? It was impossible! "It's so strange… I swear, Len!" Gumo swore, slapping his palm on the wooden table, "I'm not joking!"

The blond scoffed, "Impossible. If that were to happen, someone must've pushed him and brought him back to the roof," Len said, lightly shaking his head then returning his attention to the book that he is holding.

Gumo pursed his lips, creating a straight line, with the sides creasing as he did so. "But Len! I'm not lying!" the green-head insisted, "And besides! If someone did push Mr. Alex, why bring him back up to the roof? I mean, someone would notice him if he did so. And, wouldn't there be blood if he dragged the body up to the roof?"

"He must've cleaned the evidence," Len replied, his voice lacking its emotions as usual.

"Why would he?" Gumo questioned, once again banging his fist against the wooden table, with his brows raised as if challenging Len.

Len frowned, "Its evidence. A culprit makes sure he doesn't leave any evidence," he replied, staring up from his book and gave Gumo a cold look. "Why would his death matter anyway?"

Gumo blinked at Len's apathetic nature, "Someone just died in our school, Len! In our school! Doesn't that scare you?" Gumo asked, slightly exaggerating his voice and gave emphasis to the word 'you'.

The blonde's face remained blank, as his mind processed for a reply. "It doesn't matter…" Len said slowly, "As long as it doesn't concerns me, I don't care."

The green-head stared at his friend, wondering if Len is right in the mind… Then again, is he actually _sane _in the first place?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey, guys! What? You're expecting an update from 'untitled'? *shot***

**Yeah, well I'm just taking a break from 'untitled' and I just thought of updating Red as Roses. So… What do you guys think of this chapter? :D**

**Also, I want to introduce my Beta-Reader/Editor. Her pen name is: A Dedication To The End. She is my friend here in FF. net, and also my friend in real life. (Pinoy din siya XD) So, if you guys are kinda wondering that my writing style is a little off, well, you can blame her because she's the one editing this (LOL). And if you're interested to see her fics, just go and search her up (though her fics are in the Kingdom Hearts fandom, so yeah… If you're a fan of KH, then I suggest you guys to check her).**

**Review and give me your thoughts, or leave a constructive criticism, or a flame.**


	7. Chapter Six

**Red as Roses  
><strong>_**Chapter Six**_

"Wh-what do you mean—?"

"Gumo. If you didn't know, we're in a library," Len said nonchalantly, his eyes skimming through the book in his hands. Across him, Gumo stared at Len with a heated look with hints of confusion swirling among his eyes. The green-head's mouth opened to reply, but closed as he could not find a good retort towards the indifferent blond.

"I… I can't believe you!" Gumo exclaimed dramatically, making Len sigh and roll his eyes at the green-head. "What if Mr. Alex starts to haunt you, huh? What are you going to do about that?" the green-head questioned, his eyes narrowing into a glare.

Len scoffed, his eyes never leaving the book in front of him. "Do you really believe in ghosts?" Len asked, as his eyes moved upward and stared at the boy across him. "Have you even seen one?"

"Well—! I-I…!" Gumo trailed off, as he tried to think of a comeback at his 'friend'.

"My thoughts exactly," Len said as he shook his head, returning his attention back at the book, and continued to read where he had stopped from.

Gumo fumed silently, wringing his wrists as he continued to stare at his friend. "You're one of those 'To see is to believe' guys, am I right?" Gumo asked, as he placed his palms flat on the wooden table.

Len stopped reading, as he thought for a reply. He pursed his lips, and he stared back at Gumo once again, "…You could say that…" he muttered, then he immediately returned his gaze back to his book. But he found himself reading the same passage as he remembered the person he saw at the fifth floor—a person with long silver hair, and dead crimson eyes. Then there is that black and yellow persona that he head been seeing, though it wasn't appearing as constantly as before. But the silver one at the fifth floor… Len looked up from his book once again, as his eyes laid upon Gumo who was blowing on his green bangs with boredom etched across his face. "Do you… by chance know anyone with silver hair and red eyes?" Len asked hesitantly.

Gumo turned his green eyes at the blond, pursing his lips as he hummed in thought. "Well… Gumi—my older sister—told me about this guy with silver hair, though he's a sophomore," Gumo said, as he racked his brain for more silver-heads, "Silver hair… Hey, isn't that like Albinism?" he said, however, Len gave him a blank look for getting out of topic. Gumo smiled sheepishly, "Eheh… Um, I think the only albino I know is that sophomore. And I don't know anyone else with silver hair and red eyes. Though, the sophomore has blue eyes… or was it green?" Gumo rambled, more to himself than to Len. "Meh, I dunno…" he mumbled, casually shrugging his shoulders.

Len nodded his head—if he remembers it correctly, a silver-head bumped him last two days ago, but it was a guy and his hair is short. "Silver hair," Len mumbled incoherently, as he rubbed his thumb against his lower lip. Could it be that there is a connection between that sophomore and the person Len saw standing by the fifth floor?

"Oh, there they are!"

The pair of freshman turned their heads, and saw Neru and Teto walking towards them. Len raised a brow, while Gumo opened his mouth and asked, "What? What do you guys need?" Neru shook her head and flopped down on the seat next to him, while Teto took a seat next to Len. "What are you doing here?" Gumo asked again, since Neru refused to answer his previous question.

"Nothing," Neru replied, as she pulled out her phone from her pocket. Gumo turned his attention to Teto, the red-head beamed at him and raised her small white board, _'Neru and I got lonely, so we went and looked for you guys!'_

"Really?" Gumo blurted, as he eyed Neru with amusement in his eyes, "Can't eat during lunch without me, my dear Neru?" Gumo asked teasingly, a smug grin on his lips. Neru replied with a glare, an angry growl, and cheeks with slight pinkish hints. "I knew it! You like me!" Gumo exclaimed haughtily.

Neru huffed, "Why would I like someone like you? You're a moss, no one likes mosses," the blonde replied, Gumo's amused face turn to that of annoyance, making the blonde girl smile smugly, as she raised her chin proudly. Teto and Len exchanged knowing looks, as they silently counted down within their head.

_3…_

_2…_

_1…_

"WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING ME THAT?" Gumo shouted, receiving looks from the other tables, and luckily, the librarian is out at the moment—or he would have been kicked out, however, he still caught someone's attention.

"What's going on there?" By the bookshelf, right down the corner was Kiyoteru, his brown eyes were narrowed behind his glasses. However, his eyes then widened with recognition as he saw four of his students. "Oh, it's just you guys," he said, more to himself, "Gumo, don't shout next time, we're in the library," the teacher warned, waving his finger as he did so.

Gumo laughed sheepishly, as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, sir," he apologized, bowing his head. Then, "Um, Mr. Hiyama, what are you doing here in the library?" he asked, he jumped from his chair and walked towards Kiyoteru, his classmates watched him disappear down the next aisle.

The brunet blinked at his student, "Oh, I'm just here tutoring some students," Kiyoteru replied as he walked back to his table where two black haired students sat. Both were identical looking; both had raven black hair, and identical gray eyes, however one was female and one is a male—strangely, both of them were wearing junior high uniforms.

Gumo grinned as he saw the raven haired pair, "Hello! I'm Gumo Nakajima!" he greeted, as he lent out his hand towards the black haired pair. The pair exchanged looks before turning back their attention to Gumo—ignoring the green head's hand.

"Lin Haine." "Ren Haine." The pair replied simultaneously, their voices monotonous and somewhat deep. Gumo nodded his head, etching their names into his memories.

"Well, hello Lin and Ren… Oh, Geometry!" Gumo blurted with fascination as he stared at Ren's and Lin's sheets, "I love math!"

Kiyoteru sighed, as he sat down on his chair. "Gumo, go back to your friends. You'll just distract them," the teacher said, motioning for the green head to move along.

Gumo pouted stubbornly, "Can I stay for a while?" he pleaded, his voice high and childish. "I can help in tutoring them, 'cuz I'm pretty good in math!" Gumo added enthusiastically. Kiyoteru sighed once again, knowing that Gumo was just fooling around.

"No," Kiyoteru said sternly, making Gumo whine childishly, "But since you're here, could you bring this to the Faculty room?" Kiyoteru then handed Gumo a pile of math quizzes, "Bring that to Mr. Akaito's table… You know him, correct?" When Gumo reluctantly nodded his head, Kiyoteru smiled, "Thank you."

Okay, getting ordered around is not what he planned. With a sigh, the green head turned around and headed back to tell Len—Neru and Teto—that he got something to do and he headed down the Junior High department—from what he could remember, Mr. Akaito is a Junior High teacher. Looking around, some Elementary students are loitering around the grounds, probably because their classes were already finished. A few of the kids bumped Gumo, not even bothering to apologize. Then again, they were just kids, and the green head didn't mind as much.

As Gumo entered the Junior High department, he noticed some of the students walking around the halls; but then again, it is their lunch break. At that moment, the loud school bell rang, making Gumo nearly jump out of his skin, as he whipped his head around. He noticed the students chattering around as they started to head back to their classrooms.

"Got to hurry," he said to himself as he checked for the time on his cell phone—taking note that the high school's lunch time is longer than the junior high's lunch time. "Few more minutes before classes," he added under his breath. He looked around the hall and searched for the Faculty Room. However, he could not find the said room, as he mindlessly trudged down the halls—turning and passing halls aimlessly. After a few minutes, and feeling slightly exhausted from walking around, Gumo stopped and looked at the time; he cursed himself mentally when he saw that classes had resumed.

"Damn it, where is the friggin' Faculty room?" he muttered under his breath, silently cursing within his head. "I am so getting in trouble for this," he said to himself, fearing that a teacher might catch him loitering around the halls—though he still has an excuse as to why he is roaming around. "I swear its here…" But then, realization hit his head like a pile of bricks. His eyes had widened, and he bumped his knuckles on his head, _'Stupid! The Faculty room is in the main building!' _He thought, with a prominent scowl on his face. Immediately exiting the junior high building, the green-head freshman went to the main building, remembering the twist and turns, and not soon after, he saw the faculty room coming into view.

However, he stopped on his tracks as he saw a raven haired man standing not just a few meters away. The man was wearing a suspicious black trench coat, and sunglasses to hide his eyes. Gumo hid by the corner as he watched the man looking around the halls, checking door per door. _'Who the hell is that guy?' _Gumo mused, his eyes narrowing with suspicion at the black-haired male. Then, the man stopped by the record's office, he turned his head from side to side, before entering the room.

Gumo frowned, not bothering to move from his place. By the way the man acts, he was clearly up to something suspicious. Gumo decided—with some strange urge—to wait for the man, and confront him later.

Mr. Akaito's papers can wait.

* * *

><p>"Where's Gumo?" Glancing up from his desk, Len found himself face to face with Neru—who was suddenly sitting on Gumo's chair, and an irritated look on her face. Len's eyes left Neru, and he glanced at the teacher by the front, checking if he was aware of the blonde girl facing the wrong direction.<p>

"How should I know?" Len deadpanned, grunting as he bore his blank eyes back on Neru—the girl had been asking that question ever since the last two subjects. The blonde girl scowled at him, muttering something about 'Mister Sour', and 'eating too much lemons'. Nonetheless, it made Len's lower eyelid twitch with annoyance.

"You should stop eating lemons, sour-face," Neru grumbled, while Len merely grit his teeth with annoyance.

"Hatsune! Akita!" Whipping their heads around, Len and Neru met the teacher's heated gaze, a heavy frown distorting his already old features. "Care to share what you two have been discussing, hmm?" the teacher asked. Neru looked away, with an angry pout on her face, while Len ignored the teacher as if he did not say anything. "Akita! Hatsune! I will not tolerate this kind of attitude in my class!" the teacher shouted, making the two blonds—including the rest of Amon—cringed at the teacher's raspy shout.

And just after he had shouted, the school bell rang before he could start his scolding. The teacher grumbled under his breath, dismissing the class with a harsh wave of his hand. The students without delay started to gather their things, rushing out of the room as if it were on fire. The teacher, however, remained and glared at the blonds who were still gathering their things.

"You two," he started, his eyes pointedly stared at them, "I'm going to let the both of you off the hook. However, I will not allow mindless conversations going on my class, starting tomorrow. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," the blonds mumbled in unison.

The teacher nodded his head, "Very well. I'll be expecting that from the two of you," he stated, then he turned to the teacher's desk, "Now, I hope you two wouldn't mind getting these notebooks to the faculty room, hmm?" the teacher said, as he gave the two an intimidating stare, while his finger tapped on the two towering piles of notebooks on the desk.

Neru cringed, while Len kept his face blank, and they both nodded their heads. The blonds then took the notebooks from the desk and balanced them within their arms. Turning to their heels, the pair exited the room, and they met Teto waiting for them outside with a curious expression on her face.

"This is your fault, Le_mo_n," Neru hissed, as she narrowed her amber eyes on the indifferent blond. Teto followed them, as she continued to give Neru questioning stares. Len clicked his tongue, yet his eyes never wandered towards the other blonde, as the two of them continued down and headed for the main building. Why can't the school just create every building their own faculty room instead of sharing one big faculty room in the main building? It saves more time and energy if they did so!

The pair of blonds, plus their red-headed friend, trudged down the grounds of the school, and they headed main building, with Len acting uninterested as always, while Neru complained on endlessly about Len for being 'sour' and 'don't give a damn about anything at all', and Teto tried her best—being mute and all—to calm her enraged blonde friend. An empty lobby greeted them when they arrived—the pale yellow paint of the walls were slightly chipped at some places, various sofas, and leather chairs were scattered around the room, and plotted plants designed the corners. Placed right by the center wall were portraits of the founders, and co-founders of the school. Placed above were paintings of the headmaster and his wife—the founders—, a placed below them is another pair of paintings of a blond man and his wife—the co-founders. Len felt somewhat nostalgic as he stared at the paintings, but shook the feeling away.

The trio then continued on down the hallway by the left, where a few of the kindergarten classrooms were located—they were empty, of course—and they turned when they had reached the corner. Located down the hall was Record's office, a small supplies office, and by the end of the hall was the Faculty room.

However, the trio was frozen in place when they saw the sight before them.

"Kid, go back to your class, darn it!"

Scattered around the hall were papers—math test papers to be exact.

"Ha! Classes are over, pal. Now, just tell who the hell you are, and I might consider getting off of you…"

"Is that a threa—Kid! Darn it! What's your name, huh? I'll have you reported!"

Neru's eyelid started to twitch with irritation.

"I'm your worst nightmare! Now spill the beans, or I'll call the police!"

"Kid! Just get off!"

"Answer the question! Stalker!"

"Wh-what? St-stalker! I have you know, I am a—"

"What's going… on?" After a few moments of watching the pointless exchange between the two bodies sprawled across the floor, Len decided to speak up, his face scrunched up with the most confused expression on his face. Not just a few meters away from them were Gumo Nakajima and a raven haired man—the green head was straddling the man by his stomach, and he was gripping on the cloth of man's collar. Sunglasses were slipping down the bridge of the man's nose, and his face was flushed red with anger and irritation.

Forest green eyes looked up from the man's form, and the boy grinned idiotically. "Oh, hey guys!" Gumo greeted with his usual energy filled voice. Len placed a palm on his face, Teto sighed heavily, while Neru's eyes seemed to flare with anger.

"What are you doing?" Neru hissed, she dropped the pile of notebooks on Teto's arms and she trudged over the two bodies.

"Now, now, Neru…" Gumo trailed off, the grin he wore started to waver, and he seemed to start to sweat profusely.

"Neru…" the man underneath Gumo muttered. Then realization hit his features, and his body suddenly sprung upward, making Gumo fell backward with a grunt. Dusting himself as he stood, the raven haired man turned on his heels and faced the blonde girl. "Neru!" the man said, grinning widely as he open his arms wide.

Neru looked confused at first, however her face lit up as she recognize the person in front of her, "Rei?_!_"

Gumo, who was still on the floor, looked at the pair with confusion on his face. "You know each other?" he blurted, an angry pout on his lips as he hopped on his feet.

The blonde gave Gumo a sharp glare, "Well, duh! Why do you think we're shouting each others' name, huh?"

"Ouch," the green head mouthed, as he mock-gripped on his chest.

Ignoring the Nakajima, the raven haired man—which was now named as Rei—laughed, "Still snappy, aren't we Neru?" he joked. Neru huffed and looked away, making Rei chuckle at her antics. Then his eyes fell on the red-head standing by the side. "Hello, Teto. How have you been?" Rei asked. Teto placed the notebooks down the floor, and she immediately jotted down on her small white board (that she had been carrying).

'_Fine. On to new cases, Mr. Rei?'_

Rei laughed, as he patted the girl on top of her head. "Yeah, been investigating on the recent event 'round here," he answered, and then he paused to make a childish face, "I told you just to call me Rei." Teto giggled, and stuck her tongue out teasingly.

Len, who had been the third-wheel in the group, could only stare at them with confusion, as his eyes darted from between Neru, Teto, and the so called Rei. Feeling brave, Len decided to ask, "And who are you supposed to be?" he questioned, his eyes focused on the raven haired man.

Amber was the color of his eyes, Len noted as Rei focused his attention on the blond Hatsune. Then he turned back at Neru, "A friend?" he asked, which Neru replied with a grunt of a yes. He returned his focus back at Len and lent out a hand, "I am Rei Kagene. I'm an investigator working for Crypton's head police," he said.

Len warily stared at the lent out hand, he balanced the pile of notebooks on one arm before reluctantly accepting the greeting. "Len Hatsune," was his muttered reply.

"More like _Lemon the sour face_," Neru mumbled, Len heard it however.

"You're a police?" Gumo blurted with an incredulous expression on his face, as he pointed a finger on Rei.

The raven haired smirked, "Yes… What's your name again?" he asked, as he slowly advanced towards the green head.

"He's Gumo Nakajima," Neru answered, with the same sly smirk on her lips. Gumo's face seemed to lose all of its colors.

"Ah, Gumo Nakajima… let's see… Mr. Nakajima was roaming around the halls during classes, he as well assaulted a police officer on duty…"

"Wait! I didn't know you were an officer, and I have a reason why I'm not in class!" Gumo shouted, as he waved his arms frantically. His face was now filled with the bright shade of red.

Len then noticed Teto was pointing at the scattered papers around the hall. "Is this your 'excuse'?" Len asked with a raised brow, as he cocked his head to the side. Gumo gasped, and he started to gather all of the papers, and he immediately rushed off towards the Faculty room. They watched at the frantic green head with amusement dancing within their eyes—except for Len, of course.

Neru and Rei then engaged themselves into a conversation—with Teto raising and jotting down on her board whenever a question or statement is directed at her. Len's face turned blank, and he turned his gaze at the pile of notebooks sitting on the floor, clearly, Neru had already forgotten about that. Then, just a few feet away from the notebooks, Len noticed a brown manila folder lying on the tiled floors. Feeling curious, Len walked towards it and knelt down. He placed down the notebooks by the side, he picked the folder up with his pale hands, and flipped it open.

Len nearly gagged at the first thing he saw.

Clipped into a police file was picture… and it was disturbing. The face was, without a doubt, Mr. Alex—his face was ruptured, and a slight caving on his left cheek. Bruises spotted his face, the left side of his jaw, and his body. His front was slightly caved in, with his chest slightly sinking inward, and a huge horrible bruise covered his chest. Also, there was a lump—probably a bone—on the side of his neck. What appeared to be the most horrible and disturbing in the picture were his legs—his left leg decided to twist into an impossible angle, and his right femur decided to protrude out of his skin, his ankles were twisted into a horrible angle, and his tibia and fibula had shredded through the skin of his legs.

He looked like he fell of a building, and tried to land on his feet.

Len made a face, with his nose scrunching up with disgust. He immediately flipped through the next pictures, however, they were only focused on Mr. Alex's injuries. Len decided to read the police file it came with it. _Internal bleeding, broken bones, broken ribs, broken neck… Everything's broken… _Len thought, as he scanned through the pages. Then he noticed something out of place as he reached the end of Mr. Alex's police file.

_Silver hair… and red eyes…_

Len found himself staring at a picture of a girl—a girl with silver hair and red eyes, accompanied by the deathly pale skin. _A student_, he took note as he noticed the uniform the girl was wearing, his eyes slightly widening with recognition, _she's the same girl that I saw…_

The blond felt his heart hammering within his chest, and his hands started to shook. _What is this? Is she actually related to Mr. Alex's death? Could it be that… No… She's a girl… She's too weak to carry a man, let alone drag it to the roof floor…_

"Name," Len muttered, as he scanned the papers where the girl's picture is clipped with."What's her name, _damn it_?" As Len flipped through the pages, he saw a picture slipped out of between the papers, he pulled it out and scanned it.

Len's eyes widened.

"Wha-what?"

"Oi, kid! What are you doi—Whoa! That's confidential files!" Rei exclaimed as he snatched the folder and the picture from Len, and rearranged it. 'Ah, crap… You saw it, didn't you?" he asked Len, with a distraught expression on his face. "Damn it," the detective cursed, "It's that green kid's fault," he mumbled under his breath, as he tucked the file in his arms. He rubbed his temple with his free hand, as he grumbled incoherently under his breath.

"What wrong?" Neru asked, as she walked towards them.

Rei turned his attention back to her and gave her a tired smile, "It's nothing," then he turned his attention to Len, "Kid, listen. You will not, I repeat, you will not tell anyone—not even your closest friends—about this file, alright?"

Len, however, was sweating profusely, and his face was pale as snow—as if he had seen a ghost. His form was slightly shaking, and his eyes were wide with shock.

"Yo, kid. Did you hear what I said?"

"Y-yes," Len stammered, as he shakily nodded his head. _The picture's probably scared him_, Rei thought as he scanned Len with suspicious eyes. "I-I won't tell anyone," Len said, his words coming out fast. He picked up the notebooks lying by the side, and immediately rushed to the faculty room, leaving the others confused with his antics. He even accidentally bumped Gumo along the way, and he nearly stumbled.

"Did I miss anything?" Gumo asked when he arrived, as his eyes switched from the retreating form of Len, and the others.

They stared at Gumo for a moment, before shaking his head.

'_It's nothing,' _was what Teto wrote, with a peculiar look on her face.

* * *

><p>At the music room, right after class, Piko was once again playing his piece with Miki listening by the side. Yet, Miki has her eyes focused on nothingness, as the soft melody lulled her. The song—it sent shivers down her spine, and goose-bumps covered her arms. Piko, however, was lost deep within his music, as his elegant fingers weaved across the keys of whites and blacks.<p>

Miki felt a little uneasy, and anxiousness bubbled up within her, as her cherry eyes darted around the room.

She could feel… eyes boring down on her form. Yet, as she looked around, she would only see the nothing but the instruments placed by the side.

The girl returned her attention back at Piko when he had reached the chorus. Miki felt the room's temperature dropped a few notches, and she felt something wet trickled down her nose—

Her eyes widened, and her heart started beating against her chest.

A haze of a girl was standing behind the piano.

"Miki." Miki blinked, and the haze disappeared. She refocused her eyes on Piko.

"Yes?"

Piko has a troubled look on his face, "Your nose," he mumbled as he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, and lent it out towards Miki. The girl touched her nose and felt something wet. She pulled back her hand, and her eyes widened.

Blood.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Weee~! This is fun~! I have fun writing this chapter! I can't believe it! The plot is actually moving! *cheers* Okay, my beta-slash-editor hasn't checked this chapter, so yeah… There are probably a lot of grammar mistakes, missing words, and typos… Anyway~! School started, and it's not bad as I actually thought that it would be. XP

So, guys! Please review! Just leave a review about your thoughts about this chapter, or some tips in improving. Also, constructive criticism and flames are accepted. If you saw I mistake I didn't noticed, just point it out.

Just a question guys… Should I change the rating 'T' to 'M', because I will probably add extremely gory scenes to the next chapters… Unless you guys don't want gory scenes… Just tell me, 'kay?

* * *

><p><strong>To the Reviewers: <strong>I would like to thank: **BreadChan**, **Hansha-Otaku**, **Hikari Kamishiro**, **SweetLollita**, **Campanella**, and **Ruuya** for reviewing from the previous chapter_s _(yes, with an 's'). Also, I would like to thank the people who favorite'd and alert'd this fic!

To **SwetLollita** (and to the other LenxRin fans): There will be some LenxRin scenes. I assure you, you guys just have to be patient and wait for Rin's grand appearance!

To **Campanella**: Happy tree friends? I know that! My classmate showed me that cartoon. It's actually the first cartoon that I saw that has gore… lot's and lot's of gore. Oh, about the gore from the last chapter (well, actually, it's not that gory, just bloody), you should thank my beta, because she helped me with that scene. She loves writing gory/bloody scenes.

To **Ruuya**: Umm… I don't think I gave my beta a hard time, and I was just joking around during the last chapter. We're close friends. So yeah… Though, I sort of understand what you feel, sometime being an editor is hard, and when you edit horrible written works, you'll have a hard time understanding what the author is trying to convey…


	8. Chapter Seven

**Red as Roses  
><strong>_**Chapter Seven**_

Had he been standing there? How come he never noticed…? Where is he…? Wait, this place is quite familiar…

Green eyes glanced around, taking in the familiar surroundings of the HSL's grounds. There were tall trees lining up by the school's side, with the student's path cobbled up with hard bricks and cement. Cracks were quite visible upon the hard stones' surface, jolting and spreading with sharp and thin jagged lines. A stray leaf floated momentarily by his face, and was then blown away by the cool breeze ruffling through his blond locks. His eyes followed the stray leaf, where it disappeared across the campus.

He looked above him, and saw the sky—which was strangely dark, yet with strips of the bright blue skies weaving across the dark red sky. The sun was strangely stripped into parts, having its usual bright golden rays, yet stripped by the dark red color.

Staring at the strangely colored sky made his head pound with dizziness that he had to look away.

"…_she's here…"_

A shiver ran down his spine as he heard a voice—an eerily familiar voice—whispering by his ear, with their soft yet cold breath brushing against the side of his face. He whipped his head around, only to see nothing but vacant space. The voice continued on, accompanied by heavy and whispery breathing. It felt like it was coming by his sides, but whenever he turns, he only met nothing but space. His heart seemed to pound a tattoo on his chest, his pulse quickening as he heaved heavy breaths. His lungs constricted, his throat tightening that he could barely breathe.

Black spotted his vision—the school grounds started to get hazy and blurry, with the ground seemingly tilting and turning. He shook his head, as he tried to push the dizziness aside. He nearly collapsed on the floor, but luckily, he was able to get hold of one of the nearest branches of the trees.

Noise started to buzz around him. His head was being filled by monotonous voices, invisible lips speaking of incoherent words. He clutched the side of his head, his fingers buried deeply within golden locks. His knees started to weaken, and he nearly slid to the ground, with his back against the wooden bark. The sky—the colors of red and blue—started to swirl, the dark lines started to create forms and shapes. His eyes stared at it, watching the dark clouds turn into dark thin lines, slowly weaving to form an image… no… words…

'_Why'd you left?'_ was what the sky asked. Len tried to think about it, but the voices in his head prevented him to do so. The lines then started shift once more, creating another set of phrases.

'_I thought we were friends…'_

And it changed again.

'_Did you start to hate me, like how they did?'_

And again.

'_You left me… all alone…'_

And it changed once more.

'_Why?'_

Len's brows furrowed together in confusion, his eyes fixated at the words spelled across the sky. To whom are these questions directed to? Is it to him? Then, who was talking to him? Can… Can someone even write words in the sky?

Is this even real?

Or merely his imagination?

Len can't seem to distinguish what is real and what is not. A thousand questions—along with buzzing monotonous voices—clogged his mind, with incoherent thoughts filling his already pounding head. Then, like a hot knife through butter, a scream pierced through his thoughts.

It was followed by a sickening crack, which resounded within his ears.

His eyes immediately left the sky, and went to search for the source of the sickening sound. Then, not too far from him, splattered across the school's pavement was…

_Silver hair… red eyes…_

_Red…_

Len felt his whole body froze. Chills ran down his spine, as his stomach churned with appalling liquid ready to run up his throat. A peculiar smell wafted about, with the smell of the sickening iron as the strongest odor. Splattered across the cemented pavement was the color of the disgusting crimson, staining the bricks, the trees, and even the school's wall.

He could only stand there with horror, his face stricken with shock and fear. Deep and dull red eyes stared past through him, but at the same time, the orbs were staring right at him. As he continued to gaze into those empty pupils, dread started to fill his every fiber—slivers of shock crawled across his skin, summoning the rash-like goose-bumps.

Suddenly, the pale lips on the pale, dead face started to move… forming small and simple words.

'_You look like __**her**__...'_

* * *

><p>A gasp escaped his mouth. His whole body sprang upward, his spine straight as an arrow and his eyes were wide like that of an owl. His face was void of colors, the look of horror plastered on his face. His mouth was agape, and his entire expression looked as if he had seen a ghost. His heart bashed within his ribcage, banging against the walls as if demanding to be set free. His hand quickly went to clutch his chest, feeling the muscles pounding against his palm. His once quick breaths started to slow down as he finally realized his surroundings.<p>

"I fell asleep," Len stated to no one in particular, his face now returning to the blank look it's always accustomed to with hints of relief. He dropped his hand back to his side as he looked around his surroundings. He was in his room, particularly sitting on his desk. His eyes fell down to the desk's surface where English and Physics homework covered the wooden surface. And right by the middle of one of the papers was a darkened spot that looked a little wet…

Len's hand automatically went to his face, his fingers tracing around his mouth. If Gumo or Neru was here, surely he would have died of embarrassment. Len silently cursed within his mind, scolding himself for falling asleep on top of his important homework, and covering said homework with his drool. After gathering his papers and tiredly stuffing it into his bag, his eyes went to his clock where he saw the current time.

'_4:42 AM,' _was what it said. A heavy sigh escaped his lips, grunting as he stood from his bed and allowed his body to collapse on his mattress, lying face down against the sheets. He mussed his hair with his hands, ruffling his slightly long locks with his fingers. He closed his eyes, his mind lingering back to the dream that he had not just a few moments ago. He tried to summon the coherent thoughts that he had through the peculiar dream.

First, he was wondering to whom was the words written in the sky directed to. Could it be him? Or perhaps someone else? But the only one who was there was him, wouldn't it mean that it was directed to him? If so, are those words connected to his past? If not… then who?

Then, there was _that_… Len shuddered, pushing the grotesque image away, and buried it deep within the back of his mind. He turned to his back, and his eyes bored holes on his ceiling. He would sleep, but then he promised himself that he won't even shut an eye to prevent having those weird dreams plaguing him. However, as he had noticed ever since he tried to stop sleeping, he started to feel fatigued and exhausted—he was nearly out of energy, and he was rendered unable to do any tedious tasks.

Len once again glanced at the clock. After seeing the time, he made his decision.

No one's sleeping tonight.

* * *

><p>When the Hatsune trio arrived at HSL's compound, Len immediately noticed how the students chattered on with their peers, with—of course—one topic buzzing between them.<p>

Mr. Alex's death.

Len stopped from his tracks, which made the siblings sent him worried and confused looks. "Something wrong, Len?" Miku asked, placing a slender hand on his shoulder. However, the blond remained unresponsive, his eyes fixated at the High School section of the school. Miku and Mikuo exchanged worried looks, before once again focusing their eyes on their blond brother. A peculiar look swirled within his eyes—anxiousness and subtle hints of fear danced across his light green irises.

Mikuo placed a hand on Len's other shoulder. "Yo, Earth to Lenny? Is there something wrong?" the teal-head asked, slightly shaking the blond by his shoulder. Len's eyes refocused, and it landed on Mikuo. He softly brushed his brother's hand off his shoulder, and gave his brother his usual and typical blank look.

"Has someone died here in HSL?" he bluntly asked, his voice monotonous as usual.

Miku and Mikuo once again exchanged looks, however, their eyes held confusion. Miku slowly turned her head back to her younger brother, "Yes…?" she slowly said, her tone somewhat held uncertainty that it ended rather high like how a question would end. "Mr. Alex just died… here…"

Len softly shook his head, his long blond locks following his movements. "Are there other ones?" Len asked once more, this time his words came out slow than usual.

The tealette softly chewed on her lower lip, while her twin brother rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look upon his face. "Hmm… From what I could remember… I think eight yea—"

Before Mikuo could even finish his statement, the loud whiny bell of the school suddenly blared out, announcing the start of today's classes. The twins started to panic; they gave a quick goodbye to their little brother before rushing into the school building. Len was left dumbfounded, standing in the midst of rushing students. One bumped into his shoulder, making him nearly toppling towards the ground. He whipped his head to see a certain cherry-haired sophomore rushing towards the school, not even turning around to apologize to the person (Len) she had bumped to.

Len recomposed himself, and joined the rushing students heading for their classrooms. When Len arrived at Amon, the second bell had already rung, and not just a few moments after he had arrived, Kiyoteru entered the classroom.

"Everyone, get back to your seats!" Kiyoteru shouted to catch the attentions of the students, also waiting for some of the students to finally sit back on their chairs. Len sat on his own seat, and he immediately saw Gumo sitting right in front of him. "Alright, let's continue our previous lesson…"

Len resisted the urge to sigh heavily, as he pulled out his pen and notebook, dropping it lazily on his desk.

"Hey, Len." Len looked up to see Gumo facing him rather than Kiyoteru. The blond then raised a questioning brow, in which the green head returned with a mischievous grin. "Guess what?"

"What?" the blond Hatsune replied lazily, resting his chin on his propped up hand.

Gumo sent a short glance at Kiyoteru, making sure he won't notice the male Nakajima facing the opposite direction. Gumo returned his gaze back at Len and grinned cheekily. "I've hung out with Rei yesterday," the green head started, "And he's a pretty cool guy."

"You're telling me this, why?" Len deadpanned, his brows still raised questioningly.

Gumo cleared his throat. "Because, I was able to make him spill some things about Mr. Alex's case," Gumo replied haughtily, his grin nearly reaching both of his ears. Len, now interested, leaned closer to the green head, slightly bobbing his head for the Nakajima to continue. "Apparently, the police think it's a murder case, and their main suspect is Mr. Wallace. Rei said—from the information that he gathered—that Alex and Mr. Wallace got into an argument two days before Alex's death. Rei never mentioned what the argument was about… Anyways, Rei's still gathering information about that."

Len slowly nodded his head. But then, a suspicious look occupied his face. His eyes slightly narrowed questioningly, "How did you get those kind of information?" Len asked, suspicion was clear in his voice.

Gumo chuckled haughtily, shaking his head at the blond. "Really, Len? Do you not believe the amazing _bargaining _skills of the great Gumo?" the green head asked rhetorically, as he placed his hands within the pockets of his pants, clearly fishing something out.

Len gave the green head a blank look, "Bargaining skills?"

The green head laughed once again, taking out a few things from his pocket. "I got Rei talking after exchanging it with _these._" Gumo raised his hand. The green head's grin never left his face as he showed the things he has in his hands, which were…

"Neru?" Len blurted, his eyes slightly widening as he stared at the stack of Neru's stolen pictures on Gumo's hands. "_He _exchanged information, for _that_?" Len did not know if he should be disturb Gumo has stolen pictures of Neru, or _that _Rei—a detective—exchanged classified information for Neru's pictures.

"Yup," Gumo chirped, still grinning.

Len's lower eyelid started to twitch. "You…" he trailed off, slowly inching away from the grinning green head. "You're sick."

Gumo pouted. "Just so you know, you're brother took three copies of every picture."

Len nearly died by choking on his own saliva. How could his brother—? No, he won't finish that thought!

"Anyway, back to topic. It really is true that Mr. Alex's injuries looked like he fell off from a building! And Rei said the same thing you said back at the library. It's actually creepy! You could be a detective when you finish college!" Gumo said, while replacing the pictures back to his pocket. "And you know what else is freaky 'bout Alex's death?" Gumo continued, making Len slightly inch closer to the green head; a peculiar feeling of anxiety churning in the pit of his stomach.

"Gumo, please answer question number twenty one on the board," Kiyoteru's voice cut in, his eyes behind his glasses narrowed piercingly at the green head. The Nakajima then gave the teacher a sheepish look; he picked up his book and went to answer the mathematical equation on the board—leaving Len back to his thoughts.

Len's brows knitted together in deep contemplation, his thumb rubbing against his lower lip.

He had just noticed that Mikuo and Gumo's sentence were cut off before they could finish them, as if someone—perhaps an unearthly being—was preventing him to know more about the case on hand. Then, the image of the silver-haired corpse once again flashed within his mind. Her mangled body splattered across cobbled pavement, with the ever-so haunting look upon her face. Was this silver haired girl was somehow connected to Mr. Alex's case? Was she the same person Gumo was talking about? Or even Mikuo?

So many questions with no answers… He knew that he needed to solve this… He needs to know the answer as to why the silver-haired girl appeared in his dreams. Perhaps she is connected to this case… or even… his past.

* * *

><p>The music room was a little dusty when section Amon entered. The bubbly Miss Miriam led the whole group in, ordering them to sit by the long wooden bench by the side of the room.<p>

"Alright everyone! Since this is your very first time to visit the music room, we—which means you—will be playing one by one any of the instruments. That or you could dance, sing, or act!" Miriam announce, grinning widely at her students as she positioned herself next to the piano. "Well then—" Gumo raised his hand, "—Any volunteers except for our energetic Gumo?"

Gumo whined with a pout while a few students raised their hands.

"Miss Kasane! A surprise! Well now, come on! Show your dear classmates your talent!"

Teto grinned shyly as she stood from her position, earning wide-eyes looks from Gumo and the others. Neru gave her an 'are-you-serious?' look which Teto returned with a 'yes-I-am' smile. A bated silence engulfed the room as Teto took the violin from its case and carefully placed it on her shoulder, gingerly resting her chin against the chinrest.

After a few more moments of silence, Teto started to play. Surprised looks came from the students which made a wide smile to stretch her lips, mutely chuckling as she saw how the others swayed to her music.

When Teto finished, Miss Miriam clapped her hands. "Bravo Miss Kasane! Bravo!" she praised. Teto blushed as she smiled shyly, bowing to her classmates and to her teacher before placing the instrument back to its place.

Just then, the door opened with a flushed Len gasping for breath. Embarrassment colored his cheeks when he noticed everyone's eyes at him. "Miss Miri—" Len started.

"I understand Mister Hatsune, you may take your sit," Miriam cut off smoothly, a frown marring her lips. "Do not let it happen again."

"Wha' happe'?" Gumo asked with a barely constrained yawn as Len took a seat right next to him.

Len coughed as he lowered his eyes to the ground. "Bathroom break," he mumbled, averting his eyes.

Gumo guffawed, earning glares from the students when he obviously interrupted their teacher. Miriam, slightly ruffled from the interruption, cleared her throat and instead focused her attention to another student. "Mister Takeshi, care to have a go?" she asked with a flourish towards the instruments.

Gumo's gaze reverted back at Len, cautious of the sidelong glances from the Music Teacher. "I hear there were sighting of ghosts here in the music room," he whispered under his breath, jerking his chin towards the piano, his eyes wide as he stared at Len. "Creepy right?"

Len gave him a confused look before turning his attention to Takeshi who was taking a seat on the piano bench. For a moment, Len's throat went dry as he remembered a _certain_ dream. He could still remember the _child…_the mirror…_his face…_

Gumo coughed not-so-subtly, giving Len a pointed look for not replying to his previous question. Len gulped the lump within his throat and he flicked out his tongue to wet his chapped lips, his hands slightly twitching against his pants as Takeshi started to play. "Ye-yes… I guess…" Len replied, his eyes going out of focus as he subconsciously wiped his sweaty palms against his pants.

The green-head pouted, "As I was saying… Some third years said that they will hear someone playing the piano. But whenever they try to peek at that window," Gumo paused to point at the small glass window by the door, "The room will be empty," Gumo said, his voice grave as his face.

Len gave Gumo a weird stare. "You said sightings, right?"

"Oh yeah, some students also saw a girl with this freakish long hair… It's as long... Ah! It's as long as Neru's!" Gumo babbled, looking over at Neru, who at return gave the boy a glower. "Of course it can't be Neru, because they said the girl has white hair… and well it's also possible that she's—"

"Mr. Nakajima, I am sure you could show us your talent now?" Miss Miriam piped in, her cheery voice was a complete contrast to the throbbing vein by her temples. No doubt that the teacher has finally reached her limit. Of course, no one can actually remain patient with the young Nakajima.

Instead of being ashamed of being caught again, a shit-eating grin occupied Gumo's face as he bounded towards the center of the room. "Everyone, I give you a fair warning!" Gumo started energetically, flailing his arms up in the air, "I admit that I am Bisexual, so boys and girls can line up right after I finish! I, for one, am sure that you'll fall for me after this!" Gumo said, laughing loudly as he saw the wide-eyed looks that Amon and the music teacher gave him. "Just kidding! I got you all, huh?"

Miss Miriam nearly groaned with exasperation, instead she massaged her throbbing temples. "Mister Nakajima, please…"

"Alright, alright," Gumo said offhandedly, waving his hand lazily at Miriam. "I'll sing. I dedicate this to my _bestest_ friend, Len! I love you, bro!"

The students softly snickered under their breaths, while some gave Len incredulous looks. The young Hatsune did not know if he should laugh or cry or die. He briefly wondered if he could do those at the same time.

* * *

><p>When the bell rang, Len nearly cried out in relief, instead he opted with getting out of the music room as quickly as possible. After being subjected to embarrassments during the class, Len could not turn more redder than his tomato-hued face; being embarrassed by Gumo twice, showing the class his awful skills on the piano, and letting the class hear his nasally voice when he opted to sing instead made the young Hatsune wish he had been struck by lightning then and there.<p>

When Len finally slowed down, he already got his bag from room Amon and he was marching down the stairs. However, his luck could not get any better when Gumo slapped a hand on his shoulder and stopped him from walking—_running—_away. Gumo was still snickering when he turned Len around. The blond, on the other hand, gave Gumo the coldest glare he could muster, however he doubted his glare would work ever again… after what _happened _at the music room, he pondered if his glare would ever work again.

"What?" Len asked out from gritted teeth. "What _is it?_"

Gumo stopped his snickering, but he could not stop his lips from slightly curving up. Clearing his throat, he forced a serious look on his face. "I want to ask you if… I don't know… Do you… Umm… Do you…"

"Oh for heaven's sake, spit it out!" Len shouted with exasperation, his voice raspy. Len wondered briefly if there was smoke coming from his ears because right now, red was starting to color the edge of his vision.

"Oh, oh… Well, I want to ask you if you want to help with… I don't know… help with… you know… with Mister Alex's death? I mean, it's pretty weird and there is this connection… with a previous case… A girl kinda'… She… Well… She…" Gumo babbled nervously, his eyes on the ground as he uncomfortably shifted from foot to foot, unconsciously taking the look of a high school girl admitting her undying love to her crush.

"What?" Len asked incredulously, both of his brows raising up to his hairline.

Gumo continued to babble, "The girl… well… A girl died here… Years ago… She-She—"

"Wait, _what_?" Len repeated, giving the babbling green-head a glare. "I can't understand a word you are saying!"

"Ah, sorry," Gumo grinned sheepishly. "I want to ask you if you want to help with getting to the bottom of things around here. Mister Alex's death was unnatural. It's not normal. And I think… I think it's connected with someone's death that happened years ago."

Len felt like someone punched the air out of his lungs, his eyes staring widely at the green-head with his jaw slightly slack. Blood pounded loudly against his ears, a memory—_no—_a dream fitting perfectly within his mind's eyes as the girl with silver hair and red eyes pounded inside his mind. The image pulsed, and Len just wanted to _run_, to run away from the dream… from the image… from the girl itself that was peeking right behind Gumo's shoulder…

"Len?"

Slacked and rotted, the girl's mouth started to move, a sibilant hiss gritting against Len's ears. "_Why did you left?_"

"Len?"

Eyes, blank and dead and just _oh so wrong_… He was drowning within it. _So red… so wrong… can't breathe…_

"Len!"

A hand clapped itself on his shoulder and a rush of wind filled Len's lungs. Bleary green eyes blinked and Len felt that he wasn't drowning, that he doesn't feel wrong, that he never saw the girl _right there._

"Are you alright?" Gumo asked worriedly, staring at Len's pale and sweaty face with concern. Len shakily nodded his head, breathing shallowly from his mouth as he visibly looked behind Gumo's shoulder and around them. No… She's not there, of course…

Len laughed but it sounded more of a dying man's chuckle; it sounded dry and dead on Gumo's ear, making the green-head wonder if Len always laughed like this.

"Yeah, just going a little crazy," Len replied dryly, still laughing his dry laugh, making shivers ran down Gumo's spine.

Gumo noticeably hesitated as he opened his mouth which plopped close. "I… Do you want to…? I know you don't believe in ghosts—"

"Yes," Len croaked out. He coughed and cleared his throat. "Yes," Len said firmly, "I will help."

Gumo grinned, briefly forgetting about his concern towards the blond as he punched the air with a silent yes.

Len breathed out, his voice slightly shaking, "We'll get to the bottom of this," he said, closing his eyes. A shudder momentarily racked his body as crimson eyes appeared behind closed lids.

_I will find you…_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Is… is this true? An update? An unedited update, no less? *laughs dryly*

Sorry for disappearing for so long! I got so busy with school and well, Harry Potter Fan Fiction and playing Dragon Age that I got too lazy to continue any of my work! It's been so long that I forgot how **Red as Roses **is supposed to proceed. I kinda' went out of the road and started heading to the oblivion, so to speak. I know Len is out of character… But he somehow turns into _that_. It's been so long I forgot how to write Len in this story. Also, for the silly parts, well, Gumo is just silly I have to _make _it silly. And yes, 'bestest' is not a word—Gumo is _that_ silly.

Anyway, I feel like my writing style somewhat change…? I've been reading some of Stephen King's work (and he's awesome just so you know), I'm studying his writing style and I'm trying to apply it on my writing. Not that I'm trying to copy it! Anyway, about the chapter… I don't know… I think the styles changed from the middle and so on. I wrote the first part (before the music class scene) after I last updated, so it's a close to the original plot… Well, not really because I updated it a little so it's sillier than the orginal. From the music class and so on, it kinda' turned out of hand. I didn't know what happened… it just did… I'm sorry. Bleh. Stupid Gumo, trying to hog the spot light. If I continue it like this, Gumo will really _hog _the spot light.

Oh yeah, it also means that Rin's appearance _may be _delayed… Err… Sorry?

So… yeah… This is so awkward. I feel awkward updating this… The chapter is so messy, jumping from _this _scene to _that _scene! *sighs*

Anyway, your thoughts? Want to spare a knut or two? I mean penny or dime… I think…? _Darn Harry Potter fics… _*grumbles incoherently* Let's see if I could update later… Oh, one more thing! If you see a mistake, just point it out!

**Important Note: **The **Prologue **and **Chapters One** to** Four** are all edited and changed. You may reread it if you have time to spare. (Chapter Five to Six still needs to be edited)


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